


A Thorn in Rose's Side

by Hawkerin



Series: The New Stuff of Legend [4]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-03-23 06:35:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 91,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3758095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkerin/pseuds/Hawkerin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Missy is causing trouble again and it is up to Rose to protect her Doctors... All of them in fact.  Ok, I admit it, this story is an excuse to pair Rose with as many Doctors as possible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Brink of Disaster

Chapter One – The Brink of Disaster

After they had finally dropped off all of their friends from their week spent in New New York, Clara surprised them a little by asking to be taken home as well.

"It's just for a little bit. As usual, Doctor, I do have a job to get back to. Pick me up again in a few days, and thanks for the vacation," she said with a smile as she walked out of the TARDIS and into her room.

"Alright, Clara, we'll see you soon," Rose called after her. She turned to her husbands and asked, "So, boys, where are we off to now?"

"Not sure," Alex said as he threw the lever to put them into the vortex. "What do you feel like doing today, love?"

The TARDIS suddenly lurched to the side and groaned painfully, in a manner much like it used to do shortly after the war. Both Doctors gasped when they realized that their connection to their wife had become abruptly distant and weakened. They could feel that she was alive and uninjured, but afraid.

"Where is she? And how the hell did someone take her from inside the TARDIS?" Evander growled as he tried to scan for her.

"She must have been moved in time as well as space for our bonds to feel like this. I can't contact her," Alex replied incredulously.

An incoming transmission flashed on the screen and both Doctors gave each other a knowing look before setting it to play. This would be the cue for their adversary to announce the plan for their demise and gloat about it. As if the action itself weren't warning enough, the face on the screen was predictably that of the Mistress (formerly the Master, of course).

"Doctor! Or should I say, Doctors? Hmmm. Nice to see another familiar face. Are we teaming up again now?" Missy asked with an evil grin.

"Oh, so you weren't aware of their return? You seemed to know so much about what was going on the last time we met, so I suppose I'm a bit surprised you didn't know. I'm not surprised you didn't die. That never seems to stick with you, does it?" Evander snarked at her.

"I've been watching you for centuries, Doctor. But explain yourself, what do you mean, return?" Missy questioned.

"Not sure we really owe you a full out explanation of events, but... do you remember the trial? Maybe a few bits about the Rani and dinosaurs?" Alex prompted.

"The Valeyard? But you can't be! And why would you be working with the Doctor?" Missy exclaimed in shock. She was sure that the Valeyard had been trying to kill the Doctor during the trial.

Alex laughed at her ignorance. "Oh, that was all just an act! Not only to fulfill what I remembered happening, but I needed some information from the Matrix and how else could I get it, now?"

"Alright," she replied nervously, "but you said their return, Doctor. Who else has returned?" Missy wondered as she looked at them both suspiciously.

"Well, you're the one that made her disappear just now, I presume. Don't you even know who you're kidnapping?" Evander angrily glared at her.

"Really? Hmm. Must be a side effect of the device I was using. Oh! But that would mean..." she gasped and looked at him in shock. "You've bonded with her? Who is she?"

"What device? What have you done?" Alex shouted at Missy through the screen.

"Oh, I'm tracking back through your timeline, Doctor. Right back to the very first version of you. If I can destroy you in the past, then I could have succeeded in taking over the universe long ago, without you there to stop me," she answered as she absentmindedly checked her nails.

"What does that have to do with ... her?" Evander asked, not willing to reveal Rose's identity just yet.

"Well, the device I'm using, pulls me along your timeline. Since she is bonded to you, it will drag her along with it. An inconvenient side effect, since it will mean someone else will be there to interfere, but she'll hardly be a match for me," Missy told them confidently.

~'I wouldn't be too sure of that,'~ Alex thought to Evander who smirked at the idea of what Rose would do to protect them.

"In any case, enjoy dying. I'll just go have some fun with your past self and your little wife!" Missy sneered, then cut off the transmission.

"Can we track them, somehow? Follow her and help?" Alex asked and looked over Evander's shoulder as he tried desperately to find a way to track the device Missy was using.

"This might take a while," Evander groaned in frustration.

*************************

Rose opened her eyes from being thrown to the floor of the TARDIS, only to find three people staring at her in confusion. Her connections to Alex and Evander were distant and weak, which terrified her. But she knew instantly that the man lying on the floor next to her was the Doctor. 

“Oh,” Rose grumbled as she sat up and looked around the unfamiliar console room. “How did I get here? What's wrong with the Doctor?” she asked as she crawled closer to him.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” asked a young woman with short, dark hair. She was standing in the doorway that led from the console room into the rest of the ship. The girl held a small bag of water and a bandage.

“Susan!” Rose gasped. “I'm... well... I suppose I'm your step-grandmother? I'm from the Doctor's future and I honestly have no idea how I got here,” she babbled in shock.

Susan stared at Rose suspiciously for a moment before noticing something else. “The doors! Well, they can't open on their own! They can't!” she shrieked fearfully.

“Calm down, Susan, it'll be alright,” Rose told her and moved to take the panic-stricken girl into her arms. 

“Perhaps he did it,” the man that Rose recognized as Ian, from her husbands' memories, suggested.

“Grandfather?” Susan asked incredulously.

“Did it before he cut his head open,” Ian clarified.

“Cut his head open?!” Rose shouted and took the water and bandage from Susan to tend to her unconscious husband on the floor.

“No, he wouldn't do that,” Susan denied as she allowed the mysterious newcomer to take care of her grandfather.

“They must have been forced open when we crashed,” Barbara interjected her own opinion.

“Crashed?” Ian and Rose asked at the same time.

“No, the ship can't crash. It's impossible. Grandfather? Grandfather!” Susan cried and joined Rose at his side on the floor.

“Susan, come on now. Of course the TARDIS can crash, but I've never known it to force the doors open,” Rose told her, wishing that she would calm down and pull herself together.

“Susan, it's alright,” Barbara said and placed her arm around Susan's shoulders in support.

“No. No, there's something here. Inside the ship,” Susan denied.

“What?” Ian gasped.

“But that's not possible,” Barbara told her.

“You feel it, don't you?” Susan questioned all of them.

“Susan, what is it you're feeling? Can you show me?” Rose asked her with a tap to the side of her head.

“I... I don't know. Something feels... wrong,” she tried to explain and backed away from everyone with her arms wrapped around herself defensively.

“What kind of bandage is this?” Barbara asked as Rose finished treating the Doctor's wound.

“It has an ointment embedded in the fibres, that's the coloured stripes. As it goes into the wound, the colour disappears. When it's all white, it's healed and you can remove it,” Rose explained.

While they were talking, Ian moved towards the doors. As he got closer, the doors began to close. “Did you do that?” he asked.

“We haven't moved,” Susan told him, still shivering in fear.

He walked back towards the console, and the doors opened again.

“I'm going to try the controls,” Susan announced and walked quickly towards the console herself.

“No. Wait, Susan,” Rose called to her, but was too late to stop her. 

As soon as Susan touched the control panel, she received a severe shock and collapsed on the floor. Rose quickly moved to check on her and shifted her into a more comfortable resting position.

“Why in the world did she do that? Didn't she hear the TARDIS warning her?” Rose mumbled.

“What do you mean?” Ian questioned Rose, having heard what she said.

“The TARDIS, is terribly upset about something. She warned Susan not to touch the controls. I can't imagine why she wouldn't listen,” Rose explained.

“Are you trying to tell me that the ship is alive?” Ian asked, almost laughing at the ridiculousness of the idea.

“Of course she's alive,” Rose replied and the Doctor began to stir.

“Ian, take Susan and put her to bed,” Barbara ordered.

Ian picked up Susan over his shoulder and carried her deeper into the ship. “If anything happens, let me know,” he called back to them.

The Doctor's eyes fluttered open and were met with the dark brown gaze of a woman he had never seen before. His jaw dropped open in shock when he recognized the bond connecting her to him. “What?” he gasped.

“How do you feel, Doctor?” Rose asked him.

“Oh, my head,” he groaned and grasped the back of his head as he sat up.

“You cut your forehead, but you'll be alright,” Barbara told him.

“It hurts here,” he protested and rubbed the back of his head, far away from the bandage over the cut.

“That's from the TARDIS,” Rose told them.

The Doctor gaped at her then. “What do you mean? Who are you? How did you get here?” he interrogated her.

“Calm down, love. I'm from the future, obviously since we aren't married yet. My name is Rose. And I mean that the pain in the back of your head is from the TARDIS. She's terribly upset about something and she's letting you know by shouting at you that way. Why don't you know this?” Rose explained while trying to ease his pain a little with soft mental caresses.

“You didn't tell me how you got here. What are you doing here, hmm?” the Doctor questioned, trying to glare at her, but failing as she could feel his giddy curiosity about her teasing the edges of their bond.

“I'm not sure really. Our TARDIS lurched about suddenly, I was thrown to the floor and woke up here,” she admitted and looked around the different console room again.

They heard a sudden shout from deeper inside the ship and the three of them ran to see what the problem was. Ian was holding an unconscious Susan in his arms. It looked as though she had collapsed and she had a long pair of scissors held loosely in her hand.

“She went mad. Tried to stab me with those, then violently stabbed at the mattress before she passed out again,” Ian explained.

“What in the world?” Rose gasped. She took hold of Susan's shoulders and pushed her back into a comfortable position on the bed, rather than where she was half kneeling and half in Ian's arms.

Barbara took the scissors and moved them into the next room. The rest of them followed her once Susan seemed comfortable. The Doctor sat on a bench by the wall and continued rubbing the back of his head.

“The ship must have stopped and put us down somewhere,” the Doctor told them.

“But where? Where are we?” Barbara questioned the Doctor.

“Oh, all these questions, Miss Wright. Please,” he dismissed her.

“You don't know, do you? You're just guessing aren't you?” Barbara accused.

“Just calm down, Barbara. We'll figure this out. Now, why would you say that the ship has landed somewhere, Doctor? It feels like we're in the vortex to me,” Rose asked him and rubbed his shoulder gently to try and relieve some of the stress.

“What? How could you know that?” the Doctor questioned, staring at her in wonder.

“Do you really not listen to the TARDIS? She's trying to tell you all of this right now,” Rose sighed in exasperation.

“What in the world are you talking about, young lady? The machine is not alive,” he chastised her.

Rose looked at him in shock. “What do you mean she's not alive? Of course she is! Do you mean to tell me that you haven't even bonded with your own TARDIS?” Rose laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. “Dear lord, you stole her without even knowing that TARDISes were alive?”

The Doctor stood stiffly in front of the woman who was laughing at him hysterically. He grasped his lapels and glared at her as he said, “You are a most impertinent young woman. Come, Chatterton, we must check the fault locator.”

The two men left the room then and Rose's laughter slowed to a light chuckle. She called after him, “It's Chesterton!” 

Once Rose had calmed her laughter, she tried to consider all the possibilities of how she could have been pulled so far into the Doctor's past. Whatever it was, might be related to the trouble with the TARDIS. She decided to go have a chat with the ship as best she could and entered the console room. From there, she could hear the Doctor's argument with Ian in the room nearby where the two men checked the fault locator circuits. The Doctor was accusing Ian of messing with the controls and Rose shook her head at his antics.

Rose walked to the console and the TARDIS indicated to her where it was safe to touch her controls. She placed her hands on the flat surface near the time rotor, closed her eyes, and concentrated on what the TARDIS could convey. She couldn't use words, but feelings and images were possible. Rose got the impression that someone outside was trying to take over her controls. They were invading the space where she should be connected to her pilot and trying to force her destruction, taking her passengers along with her.

Rose gasped and opened her eyes. “Doctor! She's managed to tell me the problem,” she called to her husband.

“What?” he gaped as he stuck his head into the room. “What on Earth are you doing, child?” he questioned her rudely.

“Child?! I'm your wife you rude....” Rose stopped herself from cursing at him with a growl. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing, “Look, you know that I'm from your future. You can feel it and you know I'm telling you the truth. Therefore, I must know certain things that you currently don't. Your TARDIS is alive, you should be telepathically bonded with her as her pilot, and she has informed me that there is currently someone from outside the ship trying to take over her controls.”

The Doctor looked suitably chastised for his outburst and stared at the floor while shuffling his feet a bit.

“How could we possibly know to trust you? You appeared inside the ship right after whatever happened started. Maybe it was you that caused all this,” Ian accused her.

“Yes, you claim to know so much, but the Doctor didn't even know your name when you got here,” Barbara agreed.

“She is telling the truth,” the Doctor interrupted in her defence. “My people are telepathic. At some point in the future, apparently, I will create a link between my mind and hers. Binding us together. I can feel it with her, even now.”

“Exactly. And you should have something similar with your TARDIS, but you didn't even know that she was alive, let alone that you should be talking with her like that,” Rose explained further.

The panel in front of Rose beeped that there was an incoming transmission and Rose flicked the switch to display it on the monitor. There was instantly an image that Rose only recognized from Evander's memory. It was Missy. 

The Doctor moved to Rose's side to see what was happening and asked, “Who are you? What do you want?”

“Oh, Doctor! So young, my goodness, it's been ages,” Missy sneered at him.

“Missy,” Rose snarled. “Is it your fault that I was pulled here?”

“Hmm. Apparently. I didn't even realize that there was anyone that would be affected by the device when I activated it. Well, other than your beloved Doctor, of course,” she replied and chuckled.

“Missy? I don't know any Missy,” the Doctor responded confusedly.

“The Mistress... the Master... Koshei. Whatever you want to call her,” Rose clarified and glared at the evil woman on the screen. “What precisely are you trying to achieve with all this?”

“Oh, but you have me at a disadvantage. Your Doctors have told you all about me, but I know nothing about you. Well, other than the obvious, that you're his wife,” Missy replied and looked at Rose calculatingly while pursing her lips.

Rose chuckled a bit and smiled at leaving her in the dark. “Oh, but we have met. Your memory must be fading in your old age. Perhaps I can remind you of my part in the Doctor's trial? They liked to call me Sagacity, then,” she informed her.

Missy looked at her in shock for a moment. “Who are you? How did you escape the war?” Missy demanded.

“Simple, I wasn't there. And you do know about me, but I don't think I'm going to tell you my real name. I rather like the idea of leaving you in the dark where you belong,” Rose told her with a smug grin.

“Why are you doing this?” the Doctor interrupted. “We were friends, Kochei.”

Missy laughed and threw her head back. “Friends? Is that why you left me to deal with those stuffy bureaucrats all on my own, while you ran off to explore the universe? We were going to start a revolution on Gallifrey! Instead, I'm just going to have to kill you,” she told him sweetly. She was clearly insane and quite dangerous.

“Don't count on it, Missy,” Rose scoffed at her as she flicked the communication closed.

“Why...?” the Doctor questioned, clearly heartbroken by the interaction.

Rose hugged him immediately and tried to soothe the pain of seeing how much his former friend would despise him in the future.

“We don't have much time. She's going to act quickly now to try and overpower the TARDIS. I'll have to connect with her more deeply to force Missy out. Then, we'll get you connected to her properly so that this can't happen again,” Rose told him as she prepared to open up the heart of the TARDIS again. The ship reassured her that she would be safe connecting with her heart again and that it was the only way.

“What are you doing?! You can't open that! All of the power of the ship is beneath that column. You'll be killed instantly,” the Doctor argued, obviously worried for her safety.

“Don't worry, Doctor. I've done this before,” she reassured him. “All of you need to stand back, and whatever you do, don't look into the light.”

“You can't do that!” Susan shouted from the doorway and ran towards Rose at the console.

“Susan, stop!” the Doctor shouted and moved to pull her back away from Rose.

“Trust me, Susan. Please. I was pulled here by someone trying to harm your grandfather. I'm bonded to him in the future, our lives tied together. I would never do anything to harm him,” she told the young girl and pulled her bonding pendant out to show them.

The Doctor looked at her in awe, tears filling his eyes. Rose met his gaze and spoke the phrase of devotion that they shared during all of their special moments together. Susan gasped and clutched her hands to her mouth as she heard the Gallifreyan phrase spoken. She and the Doctor both nodded to her encouragingly to continue.

“Don't look into the light, any of you,” Rose warned once again as she opened the panel to reveal the heart of the TARDIS.

Rose didn't remember what had happened the last time she connected to the TARDIS. The experience was too intense for her mind to contain it at the time. Now that she had changed, however, she could speak with the TARDIS completely. Together, they forced Missy's connection out of the controls, freeing the space for the Doctor to bond with the ship properly. Then, with a warm mental nudge, the TARDIS urged Rose back into the waking world.

The panel shut abruptly and Rose took several gasping breaths as the golden glow slowly faded from her eyes. The Doctor instantly ran to her side to help support her. He was in awe of this woman. How had she managed to do that?

Rose smiled at him and took his hands to place them on the time rotor. Rose placed one hand on the rotor and the other on his temple as she helped him to recognize the slight connection he had felt earlier as a pain in the back of his head. She then helped to push that connection between them to be stronger, creating a proper bond with his time-ship. He gasped at the feeling and when he pulled away, smiled at her brightly.

“Oh, my dear girl, this is marvellous!” the Doctor shouted and surprisingly picked her up in a spinning hug.

Rose squealed gleefully. “It was my pleasure, Doctor. I'm so glad I had the chance to meet this version of you. You'll have to suppress these memories, of course. I don't know what you thought happened during all of this. You haven't shared every moment of your two thousand years with me yet,” she said with a sigh.

“Goodness me, do I have to wait that long to meet you?” the Doctor asked sadly.

“No, love. Not quite that long, but it's complicated. I'm sure you'll come up with some excuse for the trouble with the TARDIS to fill all of your memories with,” Rose told him.

Ian and Barbara looked at each other nervously. They didn't know what all of that meant, but it didn't sound pleasant. Rose noticed their discomfort immediately.

“Don't worry. It's just that, with me being from the future, the Doctor can't know about this or it creates a paradox. So, he'll have to make himself forget all of these events. To prevent any of you from inadvertently saying something about it, he'll have to change the memories of the rest of you as well. It doesn't hurt you, he'll just fill in the blank space with, oh I don't know, one of the buttons got stuck or something and caused the ship to malfunction,” Rose explained.

“So, how will we get you back to your proper time stream?” the Doctor questioned as he grasped his lapels again, his chin raised in thought.

“I suppose, I could have you drop me off somewhere. I'm not sure if I could contact you in the future...” Rose began but was suddenly cut off as she disappeared from the TARDIS entirely.

She gasped at the sudden swooping feeling in her stomach and took a moment to take in her surroundings. She appeared to be in some sort of space museum. She could hear some people arguing nearby, but they didn't appear to notice her arrival.

“I'm sorry, but I've got no alternative. Miss Kelly?” a rather severe sounding man said.

“Sir?” came the response from a blonde woman, apparently Miss Kelly.

“I want all technical personnel working on this. I want that rocket prepared for launching,” the man ordered. Ooh, a rocket. Those were fun, she could definitely help with that.

“Yes, Commander,” Kelly replied and left to fulfill her duties.

“We'd be grateful for your help,” the Commander stated to an older man who was scowling.

Rose noticed the second incarnation of the Doctor standing nearby with two people who she recognized as Jamie and Zoe. She started moving to approach the group in discussion.

“If that rocket is going to reach the moon safely, you'll need more than help. You'll need a miracle,” the scowling man replied.

“Well, it's a good thing I'm here then,” Rose interjected with a smile.


	2. Seeds of Death: Part One

Chapter Two – Seeds of Death

The Doctor suddenly looked at Rose with wide eyes, instantly recognizing her connection to him. He didn't, however seem to remember their previous meeting.

“And just who might you be?” the Commander asked harshly.

“She's, uh, she's with me. A specialist, you might say,” the Doctor responded quickly, realizing that someone would need to vouch for her.

Rose smiled sweetly and moved to the Doctor's side. ~'I'll need to unlock some memories for you, so you can remember how I got here,'~ she thought to him privately.

~'As soon as we get a moment away from scrutiny,'~ he responded and took hold of her hand.

“Best to include her in the briefing then,” the Commander acknowledged and began to organize where the involved technical personnel would gather.

While the others were busy organizing things, the Doctor pulled Rose, Jamie and Zoe away from everyone else.

“Quickly,” he said to Rose and pulled her hands to his temples.

Rose searched briefly to find the memories of where she just came from and unlocked the real events for him. The memory would hide itself away again as soon as she left, but for now, he would know what had occurred with Missy before. While she was at it, she also unlocked his memories of their meeting right after the trial on Pazithi Gallifreya.

“Wait just a minute,” Jamie interrupted. “I thought we weren't supposed to say anything about Rose ever again.”

“This was not intentional, Jamie. Someone who wants to hurt the Doctor in his past, is unintentionally, dragging me along with her through his timeline. In a way, it's a very good thing for the Doctor that I'm here. He wouldn't recognize her as a threat otherwise. It's good to see you again, by the way,” Rose told him and gave him a friendly hug.

“Who is she?” Zoe asked, not sure what to make of this newcomer that was seemingly familiar to both the Doctor and Jamie.

“She's the Doctor's wife. Only he hasn't actually met her yet,” Jamie answered, happy to know something that Zoe didn't for a change.

Rose nodded and told her, “It's so nice to meet you, Zoe. My Doctor has told me such wonderful things about you. It's all very complicated, but if we don't get around to explaining it all before I'm pulled out of here again, I'm sure the Doctor can tell you what you need to know before he locks the memories away again.”

“Yes, yes of course. What we need to worry about now, is that whatever problem has caused all this trouble with T-Mat, will only be more dangerous with the Mistress involved. We'll all have to be extremely careful,” the Doctor added and took Rose's hand again.

They all attended the briefing and it became painfully obvious that Rose knew far more about how to prepare the half-built rocket for launch than even the Doctor or the man who designed it. She had become very good at mechanical engineering ever since she designed the Dimension Cannon from scratch. She couldn't believe that humanity had abandoned proper space travel in favour of using nothing but T-Mat. The system could only go from one booth to another. It was nowhere near advanced enough to rely on it for any and all transport on the planet.

“Once we get ourselves to the moon via the rocket, then we can find the problem with the T-Mat system and repair it. I'm sure that even if there aren't other forces at work already, then the Mistress will be sure to cause some interference,” the Doctor told them while they were waiting for the final preparations on the rocket to be made.

“But who is this Mistress?” Zoe questioned.

“She used to be my friend,” the Doctor told them sadly.

“When the Mistress was a child, her name was Kochei. She and the Doctor went to the Academy together, but they grew apart as friends. The Doctor chose to help people and save the universe, while the Mistress tried to conquer it and destroy everything. Now, she's decided that the best way to stop him from interfering is to travel into his past and kill him before he can stop her,” Rose explained. She decided to avoid trying to explain regeneration and the fact that the Mistress used to be the Master as it would only make things even more confusing.

“That is as good a summary as any, I suppose,” the Doctor sighed.

“Don't worry, love. The future you has shown me all of your recent dealings with her in your memories. Even though you don't know this future version of Kochei, I feel fairly confident that I know what to expect from her,” Rose reassured him. 

Holding her hand, the Doctor noticed that Rose was wearing a wedding ring. He knew they were married, but found it odd that they would use any Earth symbolism. She had shown him her bonding pendant during her time with his first incarnation, so he knew they had married properly in that way, so why would she wear the human symbol?

Pulling Rose's hand up to examine the ring more closely, he began to ask her, “Rose, why...?”

“Doctor?” Commander Radnor called, interrupting his thoughts.

“Yes?” the Doctor responded and moved to speak with the Commander. The others followed to hear what was happening.

“Tell me, are all four of you planning to crew this rocket?” Radnor asked him.

“Oh aye. I can be useful too, you know,” Jamie argued, realizing that they were suggesting he wasn't capable of helping.

“Jamie, I hadn't thought about you,” the Doctor commented.

“Hey, you're not leaving me behind and that's final,” Jamie protested.

“There can be no excess weight on this trip,” the rocket's designer, Professor Eldred interjected.

“Well, how many can this rocket thing hold?” Jamie asked.

“Well, it was designed for a three man crew,” Eldred explained.

Jamie's face immediately fell, knowing that he would be the first to get discounted from it all with Rose proving to be so skilled with the equipment.

“Now, Jamie, don't you worry about it. I know we need to conserve fuel, however, I can boost the energy outputs to allow for the extra person,” Rose told them confidently.

“Ah. Well then, I'm going,” Jamie announced with a grateful smile to Rose.

“Commander?” Miss Kelly interrupted.

“Yes, Miss,” he replied.

“The chemical fuel reserve stocks at launching site are barely adequate for a moon journey and return,” Kelly informed them.

“What about other sources of supply?” the Commander asked.

“New York and Moscow. Transit impossible due to T-Mat malfunction,” Miss Kelly responded.

“But surely it's only a question of getting to the moon. We shall come back by T-Mat, won't we?” the Doctor reasoned.

“Possibly. Depends what's wrong with it,” Commander Radnor replied.

“There is another source of supply,” Professor Eldred told them.

“Oh, what's that?” the Commander asked.

“The fuel dump on the moon. There's a refuelling system connected to the landing bay,” Eldred informed them.

“But surely that equipment hasn't been used for years,” Radnor argued.

“Neither has the radio homing beam, and if that doesn't work you'll never make a landing at all,” Eldred despaired, once again making it clear how hopeless he felt this whole launch would be.

“Oh, in that case we needn't worry about getting back,” Jamie scoffed at the man's pessimism.

“Well, all the equipment has been completely automated and solar powered. Designed it all myself. No reason why it shouldn't work,” Professor Eldred admitted.

“Of course it will work. And if there's anything that has gotten a bit stuck from lack of use, I'm sure we'll be able to get it going again,” Rose said reassuringly.

“Are you sure you remember all that I told you at the briefing?” Eldred asked the Doctor.

“Oh yes, and even if I don't, Zoe has total recall,” the Doctor told him with a smile.

“Well, just in case, I've written it all down here,” he told them as he opened a huge file full of papers.

“There's no need, we...” the Doctor began, but the Professor continued to ramble.

“And there's a map of the Moon base, too. Now, you know how to operate the homing beam?” he chattered.

“Now, don't worry about a thing. Your rocket is going to be in good hands,” the Doctor told him.

“Ahem,” Jamie coughed and gave the Doctor a look implying he didn't exactly trust the Doctor's competence on the matter.

“That's quite enough, Jamie,” the Doctor chastised him.

Rose giggled and smacked Jamie on the arm lightly as she said, “You've got me after all!”

“And remember, you've only got enough food and water for three days,” Eldred continued to give them advice and instructions.

“I'm sure we won't even need enough for one day, Professor,” Rose reassured him. “We'll have the whole matter fixed up in no time.”

There were only three seats in the crew capsule originally, but Rose had quickly attached a fourth seat in the corner. Jamie wouldn't need access to the control panels the way the others would during the flight, so he just needed a secure place to be strapped in during take off. Most of the systems ran automatically, but Rose, the Doctor and Zoe checked them continuously nonetheless.

The launch went very smoothly considering the rush that went into the preparations, but the main communications link went down during the beginning stages. They could hear the people in mission control switching to the radio link and begging for a response in their panic. None of the rocket's occupants were capable of responding, however, until they had escaped the Earth's atmosphere and the G-forces let up.

“Switching to automatic gravity control now,” Zoe announced once they felt the weightlessness of space flight.

“Earth Control to rocket,” came the voice of Miss Kelly over the radio, repeating their frantic pleas for a response.

“Rocket to Earth Control. Wait a minute, can't you? We've only just recovered from take off,” Zoe snapped into the radio.

“Is everything alright? We seem to have lost our video monitor link,” Professor Eldred asked from Earth Control.

“Yes, I think there must be a fault in one of the circuits,” the Doctor replied and suddenly there was smoke coming from the panel next to him. The radio was now suspiciously silent.

“I have a feeling it's part of the communications system,” Rose groaned.

“Oh, no. This is worse than the TARDIS,” Jamie complained.

“And I'm sure you're only saying that because the TARDIS is so amazing that nothing could be any better there, right?” Rose teased him with a smirk.

“Aye, that's exactly what I mean,” he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“I've tried switching to a secondary circuit, but the whole system is burned out. I've stopped the smoke, but this is most unfortunate,” the Doctor announced as he closed the panel.

“Well, there's no use worrying about the radio now. We're nearly at the end of the journey,” Zoe told them.

“Well, I had hoped we could stay in contact with Earth,” the Doctor commented.

“I could call someone on my mobile, but I didn't exactly exchange numbers with Earth Control,” Rose added and rolled her eyes.

“We don't need them. All we have to do is activate the Moon homing beam,” Zoe informed them.

“Well, how do you do that? I thought we weren't in contact with anyone on the Moon?” Jamie wondered.

“Well, it's quite simple, Jamie. It's an automatic device. We send out coded radio signals which trigger the homing beacon into action. We automatically lock onto it until we reach the point in orbit where we fire retro-rockets to land,” Zoe explained.

“Oh. Ah, but if they've all been cut off, how can they activate?” Jamie asked worriedly.

“Jamie, you are so much smarter than anyone gives you credit for,” Rose praised him. “Lucky for us, the radio for sending the signals for that system is separated from our regular radio. Also, even with the T-Mat on the Moon shut down, the system for the homing beacon was set up on a different power source. The Professor said he designed it himself to run on solar power.”

“Aye well, I just hope it works, that's all,” he replied with a slight blush at her compliment.

“Well, if it doesn't, we're going to have trouble docking at Moon Control airlock. It could be quite a crash,” Zoe admitted.

“Well, let's try, shall we? I think we're near enough,” the Doctor suggested and flicked a few switches and a steady buzz sounded from the controls. “There, that's our activating signal.”

“That's it. As long as that note is steady, we're home and dry, no trouble at all,” Zoe confirmed with a smile.

Almost as if the words themselves caused the problem, the signal then stopped. With it, stopped all of their breaths and six hearts skipped a beat.

“The homing beam, it's cut out!” Zoe cried.

“I know, I know. I'm trying to re-activate it,” the Doctor replied, opening the control panel for that system. 

Inside was a small sticky note. In circular Gallifreyan, was a simple message saying, 'have fun.'

“Oh dear. I have a feeling Missy paid our rocket a little visit before take-off,” the Doctor told them.

“Let me see, Doctor. She may not have counted on us having one of these,” Rose said as she switched seats with him and pulled out her sonic.

“You said we'd have trouble if that didn't work,” Jamie moaned worriedly.

“Yes. Without the beam it'll be impossible to land safely,” the Doctor admitted while watching over Rose's shoulder. 

“You mean we'll crash?” Jamie asked

“Well, either that or drift on endlessly through space,” Zoe told him.

“Don't worry. I designed a device to throw myself across parallel universes with nothing but twenty-first century knowledge and technology. No matter what Missy's done, I should be able to fix this,” Rose confidently reassured them. “If I have enough time,” she added quietly and felt a wave of admiration flow through her bond with the Doctor.


	3. Seeds of Death: Part Two

Chapter Three - Seeds of Death: Part two

“At our present rate of drift and allowing for the usual gravitational influences, we'll be drawn into the heart of the sun in approximately five months and ten days,” Zoe informed them.

“No need to worry about that, then,” Jamie told her.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“We've only got enough food and water for three days, remember?” Jamie replied.

“Listen, you two, stop being so pessimistic. Honestly, you'd think there had never been a life threatening crisis while travelling with the Doctor before. This is what we do,” Rose chastised them as she continued to repair the homing beacon.

“Just a minute. I think I'm getting something,” the Doctor told them as he held his headset tightly and listened. He flicked a few switches to put the incoming transmission over the speakers.

“Hello Earth Control, this is Moon base. Emergency. Emergency. Can you hear me?” the voice over the radio sounded.

“Hello, Moon base. Can you hear me?” the Doctor responded.

“Yes! Yes, I can hear you loud and clear. What part of Earth are you speaking from?” the man asked.

“We're not on the Earth. We're in a rocket orbiting the moon,” the Doctor informed him.

“A rocket? But that's impossible!” the man denied.

Rose shook her head at yet another person declaring something impossible. “Well, I can assure you it's not impossible,” the Doctor told him. “What is your emergency? What's happening on the Moon base?”

“We've been invaded. Aliens have taken over,” he replied, the fear in his voice evident.

“Can you describe the aliens for us?” Rose asked when she took the microphone for a moment.

“Some sort of bipedal reptiles. They had some kind of sonic weaponry...” the man said but his signal faded as they moved to the far side of the moon in their orbit.

“How long will we be out of range, Zoe?” the Doctor asked.

“Well, our orbit will bring us back into his range in approximately forty-three seconds,” Zoe replied.

“I've got this fixed as best I can. Maybe we can lock onto his transmission signal instead of relying on the automated one?” Rose suggested.

“Brilliant idea, Rose. Let's hope he can still transmit,” the Doctor said grimly.

“Well, his signal was quite strong when we were orbiting his side of the moon. There's no reason for it to fade,” Zoe reasoned.

“It's not his equipment I'm worried about, it's his survival,” the Doctor replied.

“Now don't you start getting all pessimistic too,” Rose scolded.

“You're right, Rose. It's just, the description of the aliens...” the Doctor began.

“Sounded like Ice Warriors to me,” Jamie finished.

“What?” Zoe wondered what they could be.

“Yes, yes. Jamie and I have met them before. They come from the planet Mars,” the Doctor told them.

“Well, what do they want?” Zoe questioned.

“Mars is a dying planet. I imagine they're trying to find a new home,” the Doctor explained.

“Why would they go to the Moon?” Zoe asked.

“Oh, I think that's just a stepping stone,” the Doctor replied.

“What did you say they were? Ice Warriors?” Zoe continued with her questions.

“Yes. Well Mars, as you know, is a cold planet. They've adapted to that. It's heat they can't stand,” the Doctor explained.

“Well Earth isn't much like Mars. You'd think they'd head for somewhere with a climate similar to what they're used to,” Rose commented.

“We should just about be coming into range now,” Zoe told them.

“Hello Moon base, hello Moon base. Can you read me?” the Doctor called into the radio.

“Yes, I read you loud and clear,” the man replied.

“Oh thank heavens for that. Now listen. We need your help to make a landing,” the Doctor told him.

“But you mustn't land. You must warn Earth about what's happened here,” the man argued.

“We can't do that. We've lost radio contact with the Earth,” the Doctor responded.

“Well then, go back and warn them,” he argued some more.

“We can't do that either. We haven't got enough fuel. We need to get to the fuel dump on the moon,” the Doctor explained.

“But they'll kill you!” he nearly shouted and they worried that the Ice Warriors might find him if he wasn't more careful.

“Oh well, we'll just have to take that risk. Now, where are you Mister, er, what's...?” the Doctor asked him, dismissing his worries as was usual for the Time Lord.

“Phipps. I'm in the Solar Energy Store. Now, what do you want me to do?” Phipps replied.

“We need you to keep your transmitter going, we've adapted our homing equipment to lock onto it,” the Doctor told him.

“Alright, I'll try, but I've no idea how long this transmitter can last,” Phipps answered.

They managed to adjust their approach. Luckily, they had just enough fuel to land safely. The signal cut out for a few seconds, but was restored quickly. They landed with a large bump that would have thrown all of them to the floor had they not been strapped in their seats.

“Yes, well, I'm sorry about the landing. Is everyone alright?” the Doctor asked as he checked over Rose for any injuries.

“I'm fine, Doctor. I've had bigger jolts bumping around in the TARDIS,” she teased and gave him a hug.

“Aye, well, we're down, that's the main thing,” Jamie commented.

“Yes,” the Doctor acknowledged and snuggled into Rose's hug perhaps a little more than necessary.

“Now what do we do?” Zoe asked him, trying to get the Doctor back on task.

“Well, the first thing we must do is to refuel. You can see to that, Zoe, can't you?” the Doctor questioned.

“Yes, but what are you going to do?” Zoe wondered.

“Well, I must go in search of Mister Phipps,” the Doctor replied.

“But what about the Ice Warriors?” Zoe said worriedly.

“Oh, I've met them before,” the Doctor told her dismissively.

“And he'll have me to watch his back,” Rose announced.

“Now, Rose, I think it might be best if...” the Doctor began, but Rose was having none of that.

“Not a chance, Doctor. I'm here accidentally, but while I'm here, I'm protecting you. If something happens to you, I'll die as well. I'm watching your back,” Rose insisted.

“I'm coming too,” Jamie told them.

“No. You'll stay here and look after Zoe. Now don't worry, you're going to be quite alright. Now where did I put that map of... Ah. Here we are. Now then, the Solar Power room is... Here we are. Oh yes, that seems to be quite a simple route,” the Doctor babbled as he finalized the plan.

“Good luck you two,” Rose told them as she took the Doctor's hand and they left the rocket.

“And to you,” Jamie and Zoe both replied.

They made their way carefully through the hallways towards their goal. And the Doctor decided this was the perfect time to ask the question that had bothered him before, ~'Rose, why are you wearing human wedding rings?'~

Rose froze for a moment and tried to decide if this Doctor was quite ready for the knowledge that she wasn't always a Time Lady. His first incarnation would never have accepted it and she wasn't sure if this one would either. ~'It's complicated, but let's just say, I wasn't raised on Gallifrey.'~

He looked at her with utter confusion written on his face. Where else in the universe would Time Lords be raised other than Gallifrey? And exactly how did that explain the human rings? The Doctor's mind swirled with more questions than he had before.

~'Is there a way to get a message to you in the future? Or trigger my Doctors' memories?'~ Rose asked him, knowing that the particular phrasing she used wasn't a lie, but wouldn't alert him to the fact that there were two Doctors waiting for her.

~'You can just send a signal through your bond to him to unlock the memories in the version that lines up with your own timeline. Don't you know how to do that?'~ the Doctor questioned.

~'Umm, no. Can you show me?'~ she responded.

~'When we are out of immediate danger,'~ he told her and she could hear his mental sigh.

They came to the door of the room where Phipps was hiding. As they entered, the Doctor quietly called, “Hello?”

A man emerged from behind some boxes where he was hiding. He held a large spanner to defend himself and asked, “Who are you?”

“Oh, Mister Phipps, I presume?” the Doctor stated. He held Rose slightly behind him, ready to take the hit should this person prove not to be whom they were searching for.

“Yes, but where'd you two come from?” he questioned warily.

“From the rocket. We were talking on the radio,” the Doctor told him.

“Thank heavens you made it. Are the others here too? There were four of you, weren't there?” Phipps wondered.

“The other two are still in the rocket,” Rose replied.

“How many of the Ice Warriors are there?” the Doctor questioned.

“These creatures, you mean?” Phipps asked, not knowing what they were actually called.

“Yes.”

“Well, there aren't many, but they're deadly,” Phipps told him.

“Oh, they have their weak points,” the Doctor reassured him.

“Look, they've killed everybody here. All except Fewsham. He's helping them,” Phipps told them.

“I see. Well, there's only one thing for it. We shall have to destroy T-Mat,” the Doctor concluded.

“What?” Phipps gasped.

“Calm down, we can take you back with us in the rocket. But we have to make sure that they can't follow us down to the Earth using T-Mat when we abandon the place,” Rose explained.

“Exactly. Now, may I use your radio to contact the others on the rocket?” the Doctor asked.

At Phipps' nod, the Doctor activated the device. “Jamie, are you there? This is the Doctor,” he spoke into the radio.

“Aye. Are you alright, Doctor?” Jamie responded.

“Yes. Have you refuelled the rocket, Jamie?” the Doctor questioned. He wanted to make sure they would be ready to take off as soon as T-Mat was destroyed, so they weren't hanging about waiting for the enemy to kill them.

“Yes, we've just finished and Zoe's checking the rocket engines,” Jamie replied.

“Oh good. We have found Mister Phipps,” the Doctor told him happily.

“How is he?” Jamie asked.

“Oh, he's quite alright,” the Doctor answered.

“Aye, and you're bringing him back now?” Jamie questioned hopefully. It was clear he was worried about these Ice Warriors.

“Yes, eventually, Jamie. But we've got to put T-Mat out of action first,” the Doctor told him.

“But... but, but Doctor, what about the Ice Warriors?” Jamie stuttered fearfully.

“Now, don't worry, Jamie. You and Zoe prepare the rocket for take off and wait for us. Goodbye,” the Doctor signed off and shut the radio down. “Now, we need you to lead us to the T-Mat controls,” he told Phipps.

The man nodded and reluctantly led them through the empty corridors. Rose glanced around them warily, unsure of when Missy would make her presence known. It seemed from her little note in the rocket that she would be on Earth, but Rose didn't know what kind of technology she had with her. She might well have her own personal transmat device.

“Where is this leading to?” the Doctor whispered.

“Control Headquarters. Through this way,” Phipps replied as they turned another corner.

In front of them was one of the Ice Warriors, restraining Miss Kelly. She was struggling, but the creature's grip was strong on her arm.

“It's an Ice Warrior. It's got Miss Kelly. But how?” the Doctor warned them. The alien lifted its weapon towards them and the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand tightly as he shouted, “Run!”

Phipps ran in the opposite direction, but the Doctor kept a firm hold on his future wife's hand as they ran. It felt as though they had run through every passageway in the entire base by the end of it all, but they eventually found themselves trapped in a corner between a locked door and an armed Ice Warrior.

“Stop!” the Doctor shouted and stood in front of Rose protectively.

“You musst be dessstroyed,” the Ice Warrior hissed.

“You've got no orders to kill me. Your leader will want to speak to me,” the Doctor replied firmly.

“Humansss are our enemiesss,” the creature insisted.

“But we can be useful to you, like Fewsham. Your leader will be angry if you kill either of us. We are geniuses,” the Doctor told the Warrior.

“Geniusss? You will come with me,” it responded.

The alien marched them towards the main control room where they were faced with another warrior, dressed slightly different from the rest of them, and a very nervous looking human. They had been joined along the way by two more warriors.

“The prissoner Kelly hass esscaped. Thessse humansss were found in the corridorsss,” the Ice Warrior that had captured them reported.

“Who are you? Where are you from?” the one they presumed to be the leader demanded.

“I might ask you the same question,” the Doctor responded confidently. He tried to stand taller, but nothing about this incarnation was intimidating, so Rose tried to help matters by giving the creature her best glare over his shoulder.

“You will find the human Kelly and bring her back here,” ordered the leader and his subordinates left the room. He then turned to the frightened looking human that they presumed must be Fewsham to ask, “Who are thessse people?”

“They aren't part of the crew. I don't know, they must have just arrived here,” he replied.

“Impossssible. We control T-Mat. How did you get here?” the leader snarled.

“Our resources are not limited to T-Mat, you know,” the Doctor responded evasively.

“You arrived here by other meanss, by ssspacecraft?” the leader deduced.

“Rockets haven't been used for years,” Fewsham denied.

“Then you are lying. You have been concealed here all the time,” it accused.

“But you can't be sure of that, can you? The people of the Earth may be preparing a whole fleet of rockets to defend themselves with,” the Doctor suggested.

“No. Earth reliesss entirely on T-Mat. There iss no defence againsst our plansss,” the alien argued.

“And what are your plans? Invasion by T-Mat? There are too few of you to conquer all the peoples of the Earth,” the Doctor wondered.

“One day, maybe they'll just tell us their plans when we ask, love,” Rose whispered with a smirk.

Two warriors entered the room then, carrying a large container between them. “The Grand Marshall hass ordered all the sseedsss to be prepared. You are to receive your insstructionsss,” one of the warriors reported.

“Then guard the humanss. If they try to esscape, kill them,” the leader replied and left the room.

The warriors seemed to be busy with the container they brought, so the Doctor and Rose took the opportunity to speak with Fewsham.

“Why are you helping them?” the Doctor whispered to him.

“I've seen what they can do,” he replied meekly.

Rose rolled her eyes at his cowardice. “You do realize that if we can't get you out of this, not only will they kill you, but the help you've given them could result in the deaths of thousands of other people,” she hissed. Even whispering, her fury at this man's actions was apparent.

“Calm down, my dear,” the Doctor soothed and patted her hand that was held in his. “Do you know what is in that container?” the Doctor asked Fewsham.

“All I know is they want me to send something to Earth by T-Mat. I suppose that's what's in it,” he replied.

“Some kind of weapon?” Rose wondered.

“Perhaps. I shall have to have a look inside, and you, Fewsham are going to help us,” the Doctor informed him.

“What? Why me?” he questioned with wide-eyed incredulity.

“Because they see you as being on their side. You can move about and make excuses for your behaviour. We on the other hand, are prisoners,” the Doctor replied.

“But I can't! They'll kill us all,” he responded in a panic.

“Look, Fewsham, you need to get a grip on reality here. Let's just pretend that you cooperate with them and their plan is somehow successful. That means that they take over the Earth. What do you think will happen to you then? You'll live happily ever after? On the other hand, you help us, and we can make sure that everyone goes home, safe and sound,” Rose lectured him quietly.

Fewsham still looked scared, but nodded his understanding. “Alright,” he replied and stood up to walk past the Ice Warrior to the other side of the room. 

“Do not move!” the creature ordered as it turned to address Fewsham.

The Doctor and Rose moved to check the container while they argued over whether Fewsham needed to access the controls on the other side of the room or if he was trying to escape. Inside the large, oval container, were dozens of white balls. They were approximately the size of tennis balls and had no markings on them whatsoever.

The argument across the room ended abruptly as the leader of the Ice Warriors reentered the room. The Doctor shut the container quickly and both he and Rose raised their hands in the air, realizing that they had been caught. The Warrior that had been arguing with Fewsham raised its weapon towards them.

“Wait! Open it,” ordered the leader. The Warrior lowered its weapon, but the Doctor was hesitant to comply. “I ssaid open it!” the leader snarled.

The Doctor slowly opened the container once again and picked up one of the spheres. “What are these things? They look like seed pods,” he mused as he and Rose both looked at it closely.

Without warning, the sphere expanded and burst open. As both of them gasped in surprise, they felt their throats tighten and fell unconscious. Rose felt her thoughts swirling, but couldn't seem to reach for consciousness. She wondered if she could reach the Doctor somehow despite her current physical state.

~'Doctor!'~ she called out in her mind. ~'Can you hear me?'~

~'Yes. Yes, I'm here. It seems those pods are quite dangerous,'~ he replied.

~'How are we doing this while we're unconscious?'~ she wondered.

~'Do you really not know? How is it that you seem to have no telepathic training at all?'~ he asked her pointedly.

~'I'm afraid I only know what you've taught me, Doctor. I told you, I wasn't raised on Gallifrey,'~ Rose answered.

~'Yes, but surely while you were a child, you must have had some education in telepathy?'~ he wondered curiously.

~'I'm not sure you're ready for the answer to that. I don't want you to think less of me,'~ she responded, her insecurity shining through in the feelings that accompanied it.

~'I can assure you, my dear, that in the accomplishments I've seen from you, as well as the love in the eyes of my future self, nothing would make me think less of you. You have proven yourself to be quite extraordinary and I would never bond my life with someone who wasn't worth it,'~ the Doctor replied with a fond mental caress.

~'I... I wasn't always a Time Lady,'~ she admitted.

~'But surely, you couldn't have changed species,'~ he argued.

She laughed at his usual claim of things being impossible. ~'I was born human. Met you when I was nineteen. That thing I did with the last you, where I opened the console, I did something similar to save your life once. It changed me. We didn't understand exactly how at the time, but then I was shot, and regenerated,'~ she explained.

~'You incredible creature,'~ he said in awe.

Rose cringed a bit at his phrasing, thinking that he might want to examine her now, like an interesting bug. Her insecurity swirled through her mind like a growing tornado before she felt his thoughts embrace her warmly.

~'Don't think like that,'~ he lovingly told her. ~'You risked your life and changed your very being just for me. I don't believe I have ever met anyone who would be more selfless for my sake.'~

~'Can you show me how to contact the future you now? Or do we need to be conscious for that?'~ Rose asked after allowing his gentle presence to calm her worries.

~'We can try it now. It will only release the memories that correspond to yours at the moment that you send the signal. He might be able to travel here to help once he remembers where you are,'~ the Doctor informed her and showed her how to send a memory release to the future along her bond.

She sent the pulse to both Alex and Evander, then settled into a mental cuddle with this Doctor while they waited for their bodies to wake up.


	4. Seeds of Death: Part Three

Chapter Four – Seeds of Death: Part Three

 

Evander was frantically scanning for some sign of a signal to trace where Rose had gone. Some kind of energy signature from the device that Missy had used to take her. Alex, on the other hand, was trying to trace through his bond to Rose. He was hoping to break through the distance in time and space to contact her telepathically, but it was just too far away.

“This is ridiculous!” Evander shouted and slammed his hand down on the console. He immediately regretted that action since it hurt quite a lot.

“I can't reach her. It's been hours! What are we going to do?” Alex moaned.

“Well, we still exist. That means Missy hasn't managed to kill us yet in the past. I hate that we might have to trust our past selves to protect her,” Evander reasoned.

Evander's eyes closed tightly for a moment as his memories unlocked. Alex did the same shortly after and they both rushed to pilot the TARDIS towards Earth in the late twenty-first century. They knew that Rose was on the moon with their second incarnation, but the last memory they had of Missy was the note in the rocket, which indicated that she was likely on Earth. They knew what they thought had happened after these memories, but there was no telling what the actual events might have been.

“So, what's our plan for finding Missy, once we get there?” Alex asked.

“Well, she already tried sabotaging the rocket. The question is, will she try to destroy T-Mat so that we're stuck on the Moon or will she help the Ice Warriors?” Evander suggested.

“Difficult to say. Either way, our best bet is probably to go to T-Mat Earth Control and work with Commander Radnor,” Alex replied.

“Agreed, that would be the place where she would most likely be interfering in an attempt to kill us in our past,” Evander acknowledged.

They landed the TARDIS in an alleyway near T-Mat Earth Control and, knowing that Missy would be around, made sure to put it a second out of sync just like Evander had done when the Master had turned the entire world into copies of himself. They certainly didn't need to have the TARDIS stolen now.

They entered the building to find Commander Radnor and Professor Eldred discussing the reports coming through the computer from around the world.

“How many does that make?” Radnor asked, his tone of voice revealing both frustration and exhaustion.

“Sixteen T-Mat reception centres,” Eldred replied.

“How many deaths?” 

“Brent here, that man in Berlin, two in New York. But I doubt if those things were sent just to kill one or two people at random,” Eldred told him.

“What else then?” Radnor wondered.

“Well, I don't know, but...” the professor trailed off in thought as he stared at the map on the wall.

“What?” the commander prompted.

“I'm wondering if there's any pattern with these cities. London, Ottawa, Oslo, Hamburg, Berlin,” the professor commented as he considered the similarities.

The Doctors simply listened for the time being. They knew that this could be worked out without their interference beyond what their past self had already done, but needed to keep an eye out for Missy. They continued to listen as they discussed the autopsy reports of the people that had died from exposure to the exploding pods as well as the fact that they had expelled the substance into the outside atmosphere.

For the moment, they could feel that Rose and his past self were still unconscious. They couldn't feel the presence of Missy anywhere, but then, Evander hadn't felt her at all before either. She had to have some way of masking her presence like she did with the Archangel network so long ago.

They were considering going back to the TARDIS to try and scan for Time Lord life signs, when one of the Ice Warriors appeared in the T-Mat cubicle. In their memories, this was the one that went to the weather station to prevent any rain from falling on the fungus spores that were meant to terraform the Earth. They could let it go, but maybe that wasn't really what happened and couldn't they prevent several deaths by stopping it now?

Making a decision, Alex quickly entered the room and used his sonic to disable the Ice Warrior's weapon. Evander followed close behind him, pointing his sonic threateningly at the alien as well. 

“Who are you?” Commander Radnor asked in shock.

“We're here to help. We're friends of the Doctor and Rose. And that is one of the aliens that have invaded your Moon base,” Evander replied as he continued to glare angrily at the Ice Warrior.

“Guards!” Radnor shouted. Several armed officers entered the room then. “Arrest them! And lock up that thing as well,” Radnor ordered.

“What?! We just saved your lives by stopping that creature!” Alex shouted as the guards moved to restrain both him and Evander.

“Didn't I tell you, Commander? They brought their war to your planet,” Missy announced loudly as she entered the room. “I told you they would come. Calling themselves friends and claiming to be able to solve everything. But your planet ends up being the casualty of their war.”

“Missy, what the hell are you talking about?” Evander snarled at her.

“How dare you speak to me that way. I helped with the preparations on the rocket and warned these people that this was all the result of aliens bringing their off-world war to this innocent planet,” Missy argued.

“And did she happen to tell you who those green aliens are? Did she tell you how to get rid of that dangerous foam outside? Did she even bother to try and help you repair T-Mat? Oh no. Because that's what we came to do. Along with stopping her,” Alex told them angrily, still held back by the guards.

“You know how to get rid of the mess outside?” Professor Eldred asked.

“Yes,” Evander told him.

“Don't listen to them. They'll only make it worse,” Missy demanded.

“And why would we do that if we were at war with the Ice Warriors? You claim that we're fighting a war against them here, but then you say that we're going to help their plans?” Alex pointed out the fatal flaw in her argument.

With a firm nod to the guards, they quickly released the Doctors and moved to restrain a glaring Missy instead. The Ice Warrior seemed to be restrained for the moment and wasn't talking while obviously outnumbered and with a non-functioning weapon.

“The Ice Warriors are extremely strong. Be sure that he is well restrained and guarded,” Evander instructed.

“Now, professor, I think we'd best get to your lab with a sample of that stuff outside. We're quite sure we know how to stop it, but a test first is always a good idea,” Alex said with both hands buried in his pockets while he rocked confidently on his heels.

Carefully taking a sample from outside, they confirmed that it was water that would destroy the terraforming fungus. They just needed to get to the weather station to force rain over all of the affected areas.

“But why were they doing it, what was the purpose?” Professor Eldred asked the Doctors.

“You were on the right track with looking for a pattern in the cities, professor,” Alex told him.

“The Ice Warriors come from Mars, which is a cold and dry climate. They wanted to make the Earth like Mars, so that all of the humans would die and they could move in,” Evander concluded.

“And they were removing the oxygen. That's how those people died when they were too close to the pods,” Eldred realized.

“Exactly. Brilliant,” Alex beamed at him.

“Now, we just need to make it rain. Shall we just call up the weather station or does anyone feel like going for a stroll?” Evander asked.

*****************************************

As the Doctor and Rose regained consciousness, they could hear some struggling going on nearby. They both opened their eyes with a groan to see Jamie wrestling with an Ice Warrior. It was incredibly hot in the room and before long, the creature collapsed from the heat and strain of fighting.

“Oh, well done, Jamie,” the Doctor praised as he tried to stand from where they had been lying on a table.

“My head is killing me,” Rose moaned as she sat up.

“Are you alright?” Miss Kelly asked them both.

“Yes, I think so. Oh, I'm a bit dizzy. It's so hot in here,” the Doctor complained.

“Aye, lucky for us. Zoe and Phipps turned the heating up just in time,” Jamie informed them.

“What? Well, where are they now?” the Doctor questioned worriedly when he didn't see either of them in the room.

“They went through the maintenance tunnel to the main control room,” Kelly replied and gestured to an opening near the floor on the far side of the room.

“They're here, love,” Rose told the Doctor.

“They? What do you mean?” he asked.

“My Doctors. I can feel them, they're on Earth. Just a minute,” she told him and reached for her husbands' minds.

~'I'm so glad you're here,'~ Rose thought to them.

~'So are we. We were so worried when we couldn't find you. We'll take care of Missy down here,'~ Evander replied.

~'I'm so glad you're safe, love,'~ Alex told her with a wave of affection through their bond.

“They've found Missy. They said they'll take care of her. Let's take care of the problems up here,” Rose announced.

Zoe climbed out of the maintenance tunnel and stretched a bit as she seemed to have been crawling for quite some time.

“Ah, Zoe!” the Doctor exclaimed and gave her a hug.

“Oh Doctor! Are you alright?” she asked.

“Yes, I think so,” he replied.

“What about you, Rose? We were so worried when we saw the two of you unconscious,” Zoe asked, taking her hands.

“I'm just fine, Zoe. Thank you,” Rose responded and hugged her as well.

“Good,” Zoe said with a friendly smile.

“Where's Phipps?” Jamie interrupted.

“He's dead. An Ice Warrior killed him,” she told them despondently.

“How did you manage to escape?” Miss Kelly wondered.

“That other man helped me,” she answered.

“Fewsham?” Kelly asked, not believing that the man could do anything useful.

“Yes,” Zoe replied.

“Seems like he might have grown a bit of a backbone after all,” Rose commented.

“I thought that he was working for them,” Kelly added.

“He saved my life,” Zoe told them assuredly.

“Doesn't sound much like Fewsham,” Kelly grumbled.

“He was being a coward. He did as he was told to keep from getting killed immediately without thinking about the long term consequences of a complete invasion,” Rose explained.

“He attacked a Warrior. He's also got T-Mat working again,” Zoe told them.

Kelly didn't seem to believe Zoe's claim that he had attacked one of the aliens. But Zoe was alive, so the man must have done something.

“Well, do I gather we can get back to Earth then?” the Doctor suggested.

“Yes, I think so,” Zoe responded.

“Well, let's not waste any more time,” Kelly said.

They let Zoe and Miss Kelly lead them back to the main control room so that they could all transport back to Earth. When they arrived, Kelly immediately started yelling at Fewsham for helping the aliens.

“But I had to help them or they would have killed me!” he argued.

“Alright, Fewsham. There'll be a full inquiry when we get back to Earth. Tell them. We've no more time to waste here. We must T-Mat back to Earth immediately,” Kelly announced haughtily.

“But if we're all going, who is going to dispatch us?” the Doctor wondered.

“Look, there's a way of doing that. Here. This is a time switch. It delays transportation by ten seconds,” Fewsham told them.

“Oh, I see. How ingenious,” the Doctor acknowledged.

“Now, I'll dispatch you, and follow using the time switch,” he instructed.

“Right-o. Jamie, Zoe, come along. I think this could be quite fun, you know,” the Doctor said with a broad smile.

Jamie, Zoe, Rose and the Doctor all squeezed into the small T-Mat cubicle and in the blink of an eye, found themselves back on Earth.

“You know, I find T-Mat travel rather disappointing. There's no sensation at all,” the Doctor complained.

As soon as the door to the cubicle was opened, Rose found herself swooped up into the arms of Alex for a swirling hug that had her giggling with glee. When her feet touched the floor, she was surprised to find herself lifted once again in Evander's arms as he pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. They revelled in the renewed connection between them and both sighed happily.

“Where have you been? And what have you been up to all this time?” Commander Radnor demanded of the Doctor that had just arrived.

“Ah, well...” he began.

“And where's Miss Kelly?” the commander added.

At that moment, Miss Kelly thankfully arrived in the T-Mat cubicle to save the Doctor from that problem.

“Miss Kelly! What's happening up there?” Radnor asked as she exited the booth.

“Please, let us answer one question at a time,” the Doctor interrupted.

“Alright, before we get into what is happening on the moon, we have one Ice Warrior in custody that used T-Mat to come down here earlier. We disabled its weapon as soon as it arrived. Missy is also contained, so she shouldn't be a problem for now. We have established that the seeds that were sent down to key locations on the planet are spores of a fungus intended to terraform the Earth for habitation by the Ice Warriors. We can dissolve all of it with water, but we haven't been able to reach the people at the weather station. We were about to go ourselves to make it rain, but knew that you would be back soon,” Alex explained to his previous self.

“I see,” the Doctor responded as he took a moment to absorb all of the information that had just been conveyed. He recognized this version as the one he met with Rose on Pazithi Gallifreya before, but didn't know about the other one.

“What about the crew?” Commander Radnor asked.

“All dead except Fewsham,” Miss Kelly replied sadly.

“You left him there?” Radnor gasped.

“Well, he said he'd follow using the time switch,” she told him.

“He should be back,” the Doctor said and moved to the control panel with Kelly to see what the problem was.

“What's happening?” the commander questioned.

“I thought so. The time switch is out of order,” Kelly announced as if she had expected it.

“Why would he do that though? Lie that it was repaired and then send us all off?” Rose wondered.

“Well, he's obviously working for them,” Kelly argued.

“Then why did he let us escape?” the Doctor asked.

“Look, we can ponder that question until the end of time, but it really doesn't matter. We need to get to the weather station to start the systems making rain over all of the affected areas,” Evander interrupted.

“Fine. I'll go to the blasted weather station. Jamie, care to go for a stroll outside?” the Doctor grumbled.

“I'll go too,” Rose announced.

“What? But Rose...” Alex whined.

“No, Alex. I'm going. I can't allow anything to happen to you in your past and who knows why you aren't getting an answer from the station,” Rose argued.

Alex grumbled and slouched as he moved back to the computer terminal to start pulling up information about sending up satellites, since he knew that would be the next thing they needed to do.

“I expect you to take good care of her, Jamie,” Evander said as he kissed Rose on the cheek before she left.

“Aye,” Jamie responded, but looked rather confused by Evander and his behaviour.

Evander decided to go and check on the prisoners, since everything else seemed to be in order.

Kelly, as expected, had come up with an idea to send a satellite into orbit to use as a relay for T-Mat instead of the Moon base, so that transport of valuable food and medical supplies could be reestablished. Alex helped them get the satellite ready, even though he knew that its function would be changed very shortly. They still needed to be ready.

*******************************

The Doctor, Rose, and Jamie made their way to the weather station, while trying to avoid the exploding spores and foam all around them.

“So, who's the other one then?” Jamie asked Rose as they walked. The Doctor was paying close attention to this as well.

“He's the Doctor,” she told them and rolled her eyes when they obviously weren't accepting that simple answer. “Alright, you both remember meeting the one in pinstripes, yes? Doctor, I'm sure you remember that he told you that during one of your regenerations, there was a split, creating two Doctors. For a while, it was just me and him, but we had to find the other Doctor because the one I was with was going to die if we couldn't get his help. And now we're all together,” she explained.

“All three of ye?” Jamie asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yup,” Rose answered with a wink.

“Oh goodness me,” the Doctor responded.

“They're both the Doctor. And I will always love the Doctor,” Rose told them and wrapped her arm around the second Doctor's shoulder.

“I suppose that only makes sense when you put it that way, my dear,” the Doctor responded and put his arm around her waist in acceptance.

She ruffled his hair playfully and he preened at her affection. They shortly found themselves at their destination and made their way inside.

“Well, where is everybody?” Jamie asked.

“I don't know. Well, let's try and find the main control room,” the Doctor replied and led them both down the hall. 

When the small group finally found the control room, they were met with a gruesome sight. One of the employees was lying dead on the floor and Missy was sitting on top of the desk primly.

“It's about time you got here,” she sneered.

~'Rose, Alex, Missy isn't here!'~ Evander suddenly sent through their bond.

~'I know,'~ Rose replied and felt panic flowing from both of her husbands to add to the worry coming from the Doctor next to her.


	5. Seeds of Death: Part Four

Chapter Five – Seeds of Death: Part Four

The video feed from the Moon base came on just when Alex expected it would.

“Look, look! What the devil's happening?” Radnor asked when the video link started.

“I don't know. It's... yes, Moon Control,” Kelly responded.

“The sound, can you turn it up?” Alex prompted so they could hear the conversation between Fewsham and the Ice Warrior's leader.

“Shouldn't we test the directional beam?” Fewsham asked on the screen.

“It is not necesssary,” the alien hissed.

“But it's operating on Moon base power. I can't guarantee the pulsing rate will be the same,” Fewsham argued.

“Very well. Tessst it,” the leader replied.

“Commander Radnor, can you record this,” Alex requested.

“Well, yes,” he answered confusedly.

“Well, get on with it! We need this,” Alex shouted.

“The transmission coming in on the video machine is to be recorded,” the commander ordered the computer.

“Instructions understood. Transmission will be recorded,” the computer replied in its annoying monotone.

“The device isss operating,” they heard from the screen along with an intermittent beeping sound.

“Wait a moment. I must check the connections,” Fewsham responded.

“Why?” the leader asked.

“If the power fails we won't be able to guide the fleet onto the moon,” Fewsham explained.

Alex knew that this would be Fewsham's last heroic act. He overcame his fears and would give his life to warn the people on Earth. But there was nothing he could do to save him.

“There musst be no failuresssss,” demanded the Martian.

“I realize the importance of that. If we overshoot the moon, nothing will stop them from going straight into an orbit around the sun,” Fewsham replied.

“They will not overshoot!” the leader snarled.

“Of course not. But since their fuel supplies are at a marginal level, if anything did go wrong, they'd never be able to regain moon orbit,” Fewsham argued.

“This video device is operating! You have betrayed usss!” he finally realized.

“Every word has been heard on Earth!” Fewsham admitted proudly.

“Kill him!” the leader ordered. The people on Earth watched as one of the Ice Warriors killed the man. The video link was lost after that.

There was a respectful silence that fell over the room for a moment, but it was broken by the sound of the computer announcing, “Countdown about to commence. Minus three minutes.”

“Cancel the launch,” Alex ordered.

“Why? What do you mean?” Miss Kelly wondered.

“We can use that satellite to mislead the Martian invasion fleet. See, Fewsham sent us that warning for a reason. That sound that we recorded is their homing signal. We can send up the satellite with an imitation of that signal and redirect their fleet away from the Moon,” Alex explained.

“Commander Radnor. Top priority message to satellite launching site. Cancel launch. Repeat, cancel launch!” the commander shouted through the computer's communication links.

“Message understood,” the computer replied.

“If we can deflect their armada, then all we have left to do is shut down the other signal that they're sending from the Moon,” Alex told them.

~'Rose, Alex, Missy isn't here!'~ Evander suddenly sent through their bond.

~'I know,'~ Rose replied and Alex felt a shiver of panic well up in himself and Evander.

“Copy that signal you heard and get that satellite launched. I've got to go deal with another problem. One of our prisoners has escaped,” Alex announced with a glare in the general direction of the guards nearby that hadn't noticed Missy's escape.

*************************************

Rose stood protectively in front of the Doctor. It was a bit of a switch in their roles, but Rose had a better understanding of what to expect from Missy than this Doctor did. She was also fairly sure that Missy wouldn't kill her without finding out who she was or having her current husbands there to witness it.

“So, before I finish my little game and kill this Doctor, I want to know just who you are. You were at the trial as the Inquisitor, I remember that now, Miss Sagacity. But you implied that I would know you by your real name. So, who are you?” Missy wondered with an evil sneer.

“Jamie, do not let her get anywhere near the Doctor, understand?” Rose demanded.

“Aye, not to worry,” Jamie replied.

“Oh, and what would keep me from killing him before his time as well?” Missy asked.

“Don't you dare!” the Doctor shouted from behind Rose and Jamie.

Missy chuckled. “Always so worried about your little pets, Doctor. But let's see if I can work out who this one is. You said you weren't there for the war, but I know the extreme measures I had to take to escape it. The Doctor is besotted enough with you to bond himself to you, but during that year that he was my prisoner there was only one girl who owned his hearts,” she rambled and then gasped in realization.

“You swallowed the Time Vortex! Rose Tyler,” she deduced with a grin that sent shivers down all of their spines. “So that's what he meant when he said you returned. You were supposed to be trapped in a parallel world, weren't you?”

“The word impossible means very little to me,” Rose replied.

“I'll say. You changed your whole species. Oh, the experiments I would like to run on you,” Missy told her as she regarded Rose like a fascinating specimen.

“You'll not touch her! Why are you doing this, Missy? It can't just be because I left you behind on Gallifrey,” the Doctor wondered.

“I have spent so many centuries trying to take over the universe and every single time, you have stopped me. But now, I can stop you before it even began,” Missy responded and laughed maniacally. She lifted a sonic blaster towards the group of them, clearly intending to kill all of them if necessary.

At that moment, a field of blue energy engulfed her in a forcefield. Alex and Evander had entered from either side of Missy and used their sonics together to block her attack.

“I don't think so, Missy,” Evander announced. “You see, I always knew that my sonic was a handy tool to have. I always knew that bringing companions along was helpful in a pinch. But I never quite realized just how fantastic it would be for those companions to have a sonic too.”

“Don't think you've stopped me,” Missy sneered and pressed a button on the device strapped to her arm. In a flash, Missy disappeared and so did Rose.

“Dammit!” Alex shouted. “Where has she taken her now?” he asked, frustrated tears beginning to form.

“Calm down, Alex. She'll unlock the memories for us soon. In the meantime, I think we need to make it rain. Then, you Doctor, need to get up to the moon to shut down the homing beacon that the Ice Warriors are sending. The humans are already sending up a satellite with a copy of it to redirect the invasion fleet,” Evander told them.

“You're right. Rose is more than capable of taking care of herself,” Alex admitted as he moved to the weather controls and set them all to rain.

Alex and Evander both closed their eyes tightly for a moment as new memories unlocked. When they opened them again, their fear was apparent to the second Doctor and Jamie.

“What is it? What's wrong?” Jamie asked worriedly.

“Missy is teaming up with the Master,” Evander gasped.

“Back to the TARDIS, now! And you, get that signal shut down on the Moon, Doctor!” Alex shouted over his shoulder as he ran from the room, Evander hot on his heels.

********************************************************

Rose opened her eyes to find herself inside the TARDIS. Her song sounded muted somehow and Rose decided that this must be during the Doctor's time stranded on Earth. The doors were open and outside she could hear two people talking.

“Look, Miss Grant, I've got a great deal of work to do. You must excuse me,” the third incarnation of the Doctor said firmly.

“The Brigadier wanted me to show you this report,” Jo Grant replied. “Something was stolen from the Natural Space Museum. It was on loan from this HQ.”

“Oh? What was?” the Doctor asked absently.

“A translucent polyhedron, eight and a half inches in diameter,” Jo read from the report.

Rose could hear the rustling sound of the Doctor grabbing the pages roughly and walked to the entrance of the TARDIS to look into the Doctor's UNIT lab.

“Well, that's the Nestene's energy unit. It should never have left this building!” the Doctor growled angrily.

Rose gasped at the mention of the Nestene, causing the Doctor and Jo to both turn toward the intruder.

“Now, who in the blazes are you? I don't need another assistant!” the Doctor demanded.

Rose put her hands on her hips and glared at him for shouting at her. She sent him the equivalent of a smack telepathically and his eyes went wide. “I think you'd best let me unlock some memories for you, Doctor, before you say anything else you might regret,” Rose told him sternly.

She moved to stand in front of him and placed her fingertips on his temples. He smiled at her sheepishly, embarrassed by his outburst once he realized that this wasn't just some random person barging into his lab. They both closed their eyes and Rose proceeded to look for all of his memories of her. She unlocked the last adventure with the Ice Warriors, which released the connected ones she had unlocked the last time. She also took a moment to unlock the memories of their meeting in the park with Liz.

“Rose! I'm so sorry,” he shouted happily and pulled her into a hug. Rose giggled in his arms.

“Now what's this about the Nestene?” Rose asked him when he had released her.

“But Doctor, who is she?” Jo questioned, quite sure that this unknown woman didn't have clearance to be in this part of UNIT HQ.

Rose turned to greet Jo with a smile. “Hello, Jo Grant, my name is Rose Tyler. I'm the Doctor's wife,” she told her and shook her hand. “Now, why did that Nestene thing leave UNIT to go to a museum?”

“Well... apparently they wanted it for a special display. The Brigadier signed the authorization,” Jo stuttered as she tried to overcome her shock.

“The Brigadier's an idiot! I knew I should have destroyed that thing, but somehow it would have felt like murder,” the Doctor complained.

Rose put a hand on his arm in understanding.

“You mean it was alive?” Jo gasped.

“Yes, in a way. Yes, that container held a form of alien intelligence,” the Doctor told her.

“But you thought it was harmless when there was just that one bit of it here?” Rose deduced.

“But you've just got to be joking,” Jo protested.

“There's precious little to joke about, Miss Grant. That thing is appallingly dangerous,” the Doctor shouted at her.

“Calm down, love,” Rose chastised, this version of him hadn't seemed nearly as volatile the last time she met him.

“But who would want to steal it?” Jo wondered.

“Exactly. Who and why?” the Doctor asked with a knowing look exchanged between himself and Rose.


	6. Terror of the Autons: Part One

Chapter Six – Terror of the Autons: Part One

 

The Doctor dismissed Miss Grant and asked her to send the Brigadier to see him. While they were waiting, the Doctor decided to have a chat with his future wife.

“The question is, was it Missy who stole it, or someone else and she's just going to come and add to the trouble?” the Doctor wondered.

“I couldn't tell you. Shall I unlock the memories of the others, so they can come and help?” Rose asked him, though she knew that they were just likely to argue with each other over how to handle the whole situation.

“Their knowledge might be helpful, even if we know that my future memories aren't going to be entirely accurate. There should be enough room in here for another TARDIS,” the Doctor told her.

Rose closed her eyes and sent the signal through her bond with Alex and Evander to unlock their memories of this event. Even though the link was as muffled as it was, she felt a surge of panic come through that startled her. The Doctor in front of her could see the sudden worry on her face.

“What's the matter?” he asked.

“I don't know. I sent them the signal, like you showed me the last time. But there was this wave of panic that came back from them, even with our link as distant as it is,” Rose told him and wrapped her arms around herself, thinking about what might have frightened them so much.

“It doesn't bode well for our situation, that's for sure,” the Doctor admitted.

The Brigadier entered the room and looked at Rose confusedly. “Who are you? You don't have clearance for this area,” he demanded.

“Ah. Brigadier, may I introduce someone from my own personal future. This is my wife, Rose,” the Doctor announced pleasantly.

“Wonderful to see you again, Brigadier,” Rose said with a smile.

“Again? I'm not sure I understand,” he responded.

“Well, I met you quite a while from now, I suppose. Although, you didn't seem to know me at all. That means, you're either a very good actor or you won't remember all of this quite as it is,” Rose told him as she tried to remember all of that meeting. She wondered if there was any indication at the time that he might have been pretending not to have known her.

“We can address all of that later. For the moment, I want to have a chat with you, Brigadier regarding Miss Grant,” the Doctor told him with a frown.

“You've been agitating for a new assistant ever since Miss Shaw went back to Cambridge,” Alistair countered.

“Liz was a highly qualified scientist. I want someone with the same qualifications,” the Doctor argued.

“Nonsense. What you need, Doctor, as Miss Shaw herself so often remarked, is someone to pas you your test tubes and to tell you how brilliant you are,” the Brigadier replied. Rose couldn't contain her laughter at that statement. Alistair smirked at her as he continued, “Miss Grant will fulfill that function admirably.”

The Doctor seemed less than impressed by Rose's amusement at his expense. “Well, what's the girl doing here anyway? UNIT's no place for trainees,” he questioned.

“No, I couldn't agree more, Doctor, but Miss Grant was very keen to join us and she happens to have relatives in high places,” the Brigadier explained.

“So you tried to palm her off onto me. Well, it won't work, Brigadier. I'll have a properly qualified assistant or none at all,” the Doctor argued.

“Doctor, hang on. I understand what you're saying and I know that I can't tell you about your own future more than necessary. But I will tell you something that I hope you do remember despite suppressing these memories later. The people who travel with you or help you learn so much from their experiences. I was just a shop girl, living on an estate, going nowhere when I met you. You showed me what I was capable of. You showed me a better way to live. Maybe you should give Jo a chance to see what she might be capable of,” Rose told him sincerely.

The Doctor looked at her in wonder. He had seen that she could do incredible things, every time he had met her. Admittedly, they were all after she had regenerated and apparently taught herself how to build a device to cross dimensions. But to have done all that from what sounded like a very poor upbringing was astonishing. Perhaps he shouldn't be so quick to judge.

The Brigadier and the Doctor were both silent as they took in her little speech carefully. They were all startled out of their thoughts by the arrival of Jo Grant herself.

“Hi, Doc, Rose. Good morning, sir,” she greeted each of them.

“Good morning, Miss Grant,” Alistair acknowledged.

“I've checked all incoming reports. Still nothing on the stolen meteorite,” she reported.

“Thank you,” the Brigadier replied.

“And I've chased those electronic spares you wanted. They promised delivery tomorrow, without fail,” she told the Doctor proving that she was quite efficient.

Rose smirked at him and he nodded in agreement before telling the young lady, “Miss Grant, thank you. I can see you're going to be of great help to me.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” she replied with a genuine smile. “Report from one of our field stations, sir. Captain Yates. Some kind of sabotage at a radio telescope. Two of their scientists have disappeared,” she reported to the Brigadier.

“Let me see that!” the Doctor exclaimed and grabbed the report from her hands to read it. “We'd better get down there right away,” he announced as he pulled his cape over his shoulders and took Rose's hand.

They took Bessie to the radio telescope. Rose sat in the front with the Doctor, while Jo and the Brigadier sat in the back.

“So, why exactly are you here, Rose?” the Brigadier asked.

“There's a Time Lady named Missy. She's travelling along the Doctor's timeline to try and kill him in his past. Thing is, the device she's using to do it, is pulling me along for the ride. I've telepathically contacted my future Doctors, but they haven't arrived yet. I'm not sure why,” Rose replied worriedly.

“So, as well as worrying about the Autons, we also need to keep an eye out for this Missy person?” the Brigadier confirmed.

“Yes, she's been quite the nuisance,” the Doctor agreed as they pulled up to their destination.

“The Director's expecting you, sir,” Yates reported to the Brigadier upon their arrival.

“Is that where the sabotage took place?” the Doctor asked him.

“No, sir. It seems to have happened in the control cabin in the top of that tower,” Yates replied.

“Well, that's where you'll find us then. Miss Grant, you stay with the Brigadier,” the Doctor told her as he took Rose's hand and pulled her along with him to the tower.

When they arrived at the top of the tower, the Doctor went straight for the door and was about to open it when they heard what sounded like a TARDIS materializing. They both looked around for the familiar blue box, thinking that Alex and Evander had arrived finally, but were surprised to see a man standing in mid-air nearby.

“Oh, dear. Don't go away, Doctor. My co-ordinates seem to have slipped a little. Still, not bad after twenty-nine thousand light years,” he announced and floated forward to join them.

Rose realized immediately that this was another Time Lord and slipped into the role she had put on during her husband's trial. She had fooled them all in her time as Inquisitor, surely she could do the same now.

“I do hope you can spare a moment or two, Doctor?” the Time Lord asked.

“Sarcasm always was a weak point with you, wasn't it. May I say that I think you look quite ridiculous in those clothes,” the Doctor told the other Time Lord.

The man was wearing a black suit, bowler hat and carrying an umbrella. Rose had to agree that it did look rather silly, but then, the Doctor was wearing a cape and frilly shirt. She smirked a bit at the interaction before schooling her features back into her posh Time Lady persona.

“I am travelling incognito,” the Time Lord replied haughtily.

“Oh? Why?” the Doctor snapped at him, clearly finding the man quite unwelcome.

“We Time Lords don't care to be conspicuous. Some of us, that is,” the Time Lord told him with a derogatory glance at the Doctor's apparel. “But who, may I ask are you, madam?”

“I am here from the future and none of your concern, sir,” Rose replied.

“Her presence is nothing for you to worry about, now what do you want?” the Doctor demanded.

“I came to warn you. An old acquaintance has arrived on this planet,” the Time Lord told the Doctor, seeming to accept Rose's presence for the moment.

“Oh? One of our people?” the Doctor asked.

“The Master,” he responded curtly.

Rose had to suppress her gasp as she thought to the Doctor, ~'That explains why they were so worried when they realized where I was.'~

“That jackanapes! All he ever does is cause trouble,” the Doctor told the other Time Lord, not letting on that he knew another incarnation of the same man was here as well.

“He'll certainly try to kill you, Doctor. The tribunal thought that you ought to be made aware of your danger,” he warned.

“How very kind of them,” the Doctor replied, clearly not believing the sincerity of their concern.

“You are incorrigibly meddlesome, Doctor, but we've always felt that your hearts are in the right places. We've also detected some kind of signal that is blocking the arrival of any other TARDISes in this time and place. It couldn't stop me, of course, but it is curious,” he added with a strange look over at Rose.

“I see. Well, I refuse to be worried by a renegade like the Master. He's an unimaginative plodder,” the Doctor insisted, trying to take the man's attention away from Rose.

“His degree in cosmic science was of a higher class than yours,” the Time Lord taunted.

“Yes, well... er, yes... I was a late developer,” the Doctor defended himself weakly.

“Would you call that little surprise unimaginative?” the Time Lord questioned.

They discovered that the Master had booby trapped the door so that when it was opened, a Volatiser would fall and explode with enough force to destroy the entire research centre. The other Time Lord left without any suggestions in dealing with the problem. Rose was about to make a suggestion, when the Doctor burst through the door and dove to the floor just in time to catch the device.

Rose rolled her eyes at him and sat on the chair nearby while he sat on the floor, defusing the bomb. “You know, we probably could have come up with a safer way of dealing with that,” Rose told him with a smirk.

“Perhaps. But it's dealt with now isn't it?” the Doctor replied quietly while carefully unscrewing the cap.

Yates walked in at that moment and asked, “Any luck?”

“Keep back,” the Doctor warned quietly.

“What's that?” Yates wondered.

“A bomb,” he replied as he continued to pull out the inner workings.

“A bomb! Is it defused?” Yates questioned fearfully.

The Doctor worked for another moment before answering, “It is now.”

Another man walked in as Yates asked, “Where on earth did you find it? Oh, I'm so sorry. Er, this is the Director.”

“How do you do? I hope you realize the police have already investigated this matter,” the Director commented.

“Where's Lethbridge-Stewart?” the Doctor directed his question to Yates and ignored the man who seemed eager to dismiss them.

“He and Miss Grant are questioning the staff,” he replied.

“Huh. A fat lot of use that'll do,” the Doctor told him.

“After all, it's hardly an international matter, is it?” the Director said, clearly still hoping that they would leave.

“I understand you've lost a couple of scientists,” the Doctor addressed him curtly.

“Yes. Professor Philips and his assistant, Goodge,” the man answered nervously.

Rose noticed the half-eaten lunch left on the table and reached for the lunch box.

“Goodge must have left in quite a hurry,” the Director commented.

“Yes. Yes, he must,” the Doctor agreed.

Rose opened the lunch box and gasped, “Oh my god!”

The Doctor looked inside as well and moaned, “Oh, no!”

“What's wrong?” Yates asked, trying to look over their shoulders.

“Look for yourself,” the Doctor said as he turned the box to show the other two people.

Inside the metal lunch box was a tiny person, lying lifelessly against the side. Whatever the Master had done to him, was not merciful.

“It's Goodge!” the Director cried in shock.

That answered the question of the location for one of the two missing people. They left the research station and returned to UNIT. They would continue to search for the other man, but the Doctor wanted to be sure to dispose of the explosive left behind by the Master. The human race should not have access to this yet.

Back in the Doctor's lab, Rose watched as he used some machinery to destroy the bomb safely. While he was doing that, Jo was in full questioning mode.

“What is a Nestene?” she asked.

“Ask Captain Yates. He had the job of clearing up the mess last time,” the Doctor told her distractedly.

“Oh, a Nestene? Er, it's a bit difficult to describe, exactly,” the captain muttered.

“A Nestene is a ruthlessly aggressive intelligent alien life form,” the Doctor said exasperatedly.

“Well, what do they look like?” Jo wondered.

“Their basic form is analogous to a cephalopod,” the Doctor replied.

“What's a cephalopod?” she asked.

“An octopus. I thought you took an A-Level in science,” he said and looked at her suspiciously.

“I didn't say I passed. Urgh, an octopus,” Jo sneered and wrinkled her nose.

“That's not what they looked like when I met them. It was more like a big blob of goo. And they control plastic with this sort of signal,” Rose added.

“Yes, well, they did say that the form they took was merely for this planet. On their homeworld, they could look quite different,” the Doctor acknowledged. “And as Rose said, they have a natural affinity for plastic. Now, if you've quite finished asking questions?”

“Sorry. Just forget I'm here,” Jo told him as they watched him place the bomb parts inside a kiln while wearing protective gloves.

“At least we should be ready for them this time,” Captain Yates said confidently.

“Too late, Captain. They're here already,” the Doctor told him. “The radio telescope is their bridgehead. They used that to direct energy into that surviving Nestene unit.”

The Brigadier entered the lab then, and the Doctor immediately insisted, “Brigadier. Look, that unit must be discovered within the next hour.”

“Yes, I'm well aware of the urgency of the situation, Doctor. If we had some idea where it's been taken,” the Brigadier suggested.

“Well, try the plastics factories, man,” the Doctor snapped at him.

“Isn't there some kind of scan we can run from the TARDIS to look for that signal, love?” Rose suggested.

“I'm not sure what I'd be searching for. And I don't know how far I could get with the condition she's in,” the Doctor admitted.

“One of these days, you'll give me some Spock,” she teased. “Let me have a go,” she told him and went into the TARDIS to see if she could run a scan for alien tech.

“I'll set up a search of the plastics factories straight away. Yates?” the Brigadier ordered.

“Right, sir,” Yates left to start the search.

“Can I help, sir? Please?” Jo called after the Brigadier.

“Very well, Miss Grant,” he acquiesced.

“I'll start by making out some lists,” she replied and left the lab to help with the search.

“This Master fellow, you're convinced he is working with the Nestenes?” the Brigadier asked once it was just the two of them in the lab.

“Oh, I should think by now he'll be calling himself their Commander in Chief. Vanity's his weakness. And Missy, the person that pulled Rose here will be there as well. Ah, there you are. It should be cooked by now,” the Doctor told him and opened the kiln to remove the bomb parts he had put into it earlier.

“This, er, this device of his. Is it very powerful?” the Brigadier asked as he watched the Doctor handle the parts.

“Oh, I should say roughly equal to a fifteen megaton bomb,” the Doctor replied.

“Really? Well, the research boys'll be glad to get their hands on this,” Alistair said excitedly.

“Too late, Brigadier. I've boiled out the contents. The weapons that you have on Earth are quite nasty enough as it is,” he announced.

The Brigadier left the Doctor's lab just as Rose returned from the TARDIS. “I've set a scan running to look for alien tech, but it might take a while. It's also possible that Missy found a way to block it, since she seems to have been able to block my Doctors from getting here,” she said, obviously worried about them.

“I'm sure they're fine, my dear,” the Doctor reassured her with a hug. “Being unable to land, while terribly frustrating, isn't dangerous. I'm sure they're more worried about you.”

They had some time to wait while the UNIT officers searched the plastics factories and the scan was running in the TARDIS. So, the Doctor decided to spend some of that time getting to know his future wife a little better.

“You handled yourself quite well when that annoying messenger from the High Council arrived,” he praised.

“Well, I had a bit of practice a while back. You were put on trial, being prosecuted by yourself, and I was set up as the Inquisitor,” she explained with a laugh.

“That sounds rather interesting. I suppose being in that situation would give you some practice at being stuffy and self-important,” he acknowledged.

“Brax was very helpful,” she told him with a smile.

“You've met my brother?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

“And your mum. She was really sweet about all of it,” Rose told him.

He hummed happily and hugged her a little tighter. Rose wriggled her hands under his jacket so that there was just his shirt between her hands and his back as she hugged him. She rested her ear against his chest to be soothed by the sound of his hearts beating.

“I heard you calling the pinstriped one Alex. Is he the only one that took on a new name?” the Doctor asked her.

“No. Both of them did. They told me that the name Doctor was a promise and the names that they took on to help us differentiate between them would also be promises. So, they are Doctor Alex Tyler and Doctor Evander Tyler. They felt that taking on my last name was a promise to me and the first names were a promise about the men they hoped to be,” she explained and thought of the lovely time they spent during and after those promises.

That evening had turned out to be all a part of a long dream, but it was real in their minds and that was what mattered most. Rose felt tears coming to her eyes as she felt the pain of their absence and the Doctor she was holding gasped when he felt it through their bond. She suddenly reached up and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Rose needed to feel nearer her husband and this was the version that was here.

The Doctor was shocked by her sudden actions, but could feel how strongly she needed this reassurance and despite the possible retribution he might face from his future selves later, he decided to take full advantage of the situation. Holding Rose tightly against his body, the Doctor ran his hands up and down her back in a soothing manner. He was shocked yet again, when her hands moved to his bum and pulled his hips against her. He gasped suddenly and Rose released him from the kiss.

“I'm sorry. I'll... I'll be in the TARDIS,” she said, embarrassed by her actions and unsure of what the future Doctors would think of what just happened. This Doctor didn't seem to mind, even if he was a little surprised. She retreated to the TARDIS and decided to take a hot shower to settle her nerves.

The Doctor watched her go. He wasn't sure how to feel about her actions. She was lovely and clearly loved the future versions of him very much. Rose seemed to find this version of him to be at least somewhat attractive as well, based on that kiss and her wandering hands. But she also seemed unsure of how to behave with this version of him.

Before long, Yates came to discuss some possibilities with him. When Benton arrived, Yates asked, “Yes, what is it, Sergeant?”

“Excuse me, sir. We've just had a call from the civil police. They found Philip's car abandoned,” Sergeant Benton reported.

“Where?” Captain Yates wondered.

“In a field about nine miles away from the research station. And they say there's a zinc box in the boot with UNIT markings,” Benton told him.

“The energy unit?” Yates presumed.

“I've told them not to touch it, Doctor,” the Sergeant said assuredly.

“What do you think, Doctor?” Yates prompted.

“I still am,” he replied.

“Huh?” the Captain grunted in confusion at his response.

“Thinking,” the Doctor clarified. 

Leaving the scientist's car in the middle of a field, with the stolen item still in the boot, didn't make sense. He told Benton and Yates that they might as well bring the box here to at least see what was inside it, and decided that he needed Rose's opinion. She had proven to be extremely insightful, so he dismissed the men and went into the TARDIS.

Asking the TARDIS where Rose had gone, he discovered that she was having a shower in his en suite. Well, he supposed, it was hers too... in the future at least. He decided to sit in his room to wait for her so that they could discuss these latest developments and get her opinion.

They were both slightly shocked when she entered the bedroom clad in just a small towel. She hadn't expected him to be there and he had expected her to be wearing, well... something. He blushed deeply and averted his eyes.

“Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I just came to discuss, uh,” he stuttered and Rose moved to his side.

“Doctor? It's alright. Whether we're in the right time or not, you are still my husband. There's no need to be embarrassed,” she told him and added her favourite phrase in Gallifreyan. That phrase that always reminded them of the timelessness of their love for each other.

The Doctor whimpered slightly and took in the sight of her then. She smiled warmly and decided to drop the towel. He took two quick steps toward her and pulled her naked form tightly against his while giving her a scorching kiss. Rose began to unbutton his frilly shirt and tugged at his clothing. She missed her husbands desperately and yet, he was here.

He caught on to her intentions and quickly helped her remove the rest of his clothing before admitting, “Rose, I've never, um... done this before.”

“Doctor, you're a grandfather,” she said as if it were obvious that he must have done this before.

“We use the looms on Gallifrey. It's all genetic engineering,” he told her between kisses to her neck.

Rose chuckled at how adorable it was to have a centuries old virgin in her arms. “Don't worry, Doctor, I'll be gentle,” she teased and they tumbled together onto the bed.

Rose pushed him onto his back and sat up, straddling his legs. He softly stroked her thighs where he could reach her as she ran her hands down his chest towards his hips, then lower still. The Doctor gasped at the sensations and shut his eyes with his head thrown back in delight. Rose stroked him slowly and found herself immensely turned on by seeing him writhing beneath her. Deciding that he was ready for her, she moved to sink down on him and he wrapped his arms around her waist, happy to finally be able to embrace her properly.

She moved her hips against his and once he got the hang of it, the Doctor rolled them so that she was beneath him instead. Rose giggled and moaned happily at the change in angles. He thrust into her forcefully and began to whisper sweet phrases in Gallifreyan that she had never heard before but understood completely. The Doctor started kissing every bit of skin within his reach and sucked on her breasts happily. His mind was suddenly clouded in the blissful feelings flooding their bond and he cried out in shock when her body contracted around him, pulling him over the edge with her unexpectedly.

They stayed cuddled together, gasping for breath for several minutes before either of them could speak again. Rose snuggled into his arms and he took a deep breath of her lovely scent. He suddenly felt extremely jealous of his future selves and didn't want to give Rose back. He knew that it had to be that way, but that didn't stop the desire to keep her here.

“So, what was it you came here to discuss with me?” she mumbled drowsily.

“Oh, right, well uh... The police have found Philip's car abandoned in a field. In the boot, was a zinc box resembling the one containing the energy unit. They are bringing the box here, but something just doesn't feel right about the whole thing. I thought I might seek your insight on it,” he explained.

“So, the missing scientist's car was left in a field and they put a box in it that looks like the stolen item that we're looking for. Well, it certainly won't be the energy unit, why would they just give it back?” she said, working through the facts.

“Precisely,” he agreed.

“What would they want us to take back here? Oh my god! Doctor, it's a bomb!” Rose exclaimed and jumped out of the bed. 

She ran to the wardrobe where the TARDIS provided her with her usual favourite outfit of a long red skirt, white blouse with gold embroidery and her red Mary Jane shoes. The Doctor quickly pulled his clothes back on and the two of them ran to the TARDIS doors.

They could hear Yates outside calling out to him, “Doctor, we've got the box here.”

“We're coming,” he called back as they exited the TARDIS.

In the Doctor's lab, they saw Jo open the lock on the box and she began to pull the lid open.

“Stop her! That's a bomb!” the Doctor shouted to Benton and Yates.

Captain Yates was the first to reach her as smoke started seeping from the slightly open lid. Jo hit him in the stomach hard enough to send him reeling back from her.

“I've got to open it! I've got to!” Jo cried as she wrestled with it further. She seemed unnaturally fixated on her task.

Sergeant Benton managed to pull Jo away from the box forcefully and the Doctor ran to retrieve the smoking bomb at once. Rose closed her eyes, she knew that there had to be a way for all of this to work out somehow, but she just couldn't stand to look if this was the end right now.


	7. Terror of the Autons: Part Two

Chapter Seven – Terror of the Autons: Part Two

 

The Doctor hurled the box out of the window and into the river outside. The explosion set a flock of seagulls in flight and Benton informed him, “There's going to be some complaints about that you know, Doctor.”

“My dear Sergeant, if that box hadn't been tied, you wouldn't be here to receive any complaints,” the Doctor chastised.

“Yes sir. I mean, no, sir,” he stuttered.

“What gave you the idea it was a booby trap, Doctor?” Captain Yates asked.

“Well, it was Rose that realized the only reason for the box to be in that car was that it was dangerous. But Jo is certainly not herself right now,” the Doctor told them. Everyone turned towards her and noticed that Jo was standing in the middle of the room, just staring into space.

“What's wrong with her?” Yates wondered.

“Almost certainly post-hypnotic alienation,” the Doctor replied.

“She's been hypnotized?” the Captain guessed that was what he meant.

“Well, of course. Why else do you think she tried to blow us all to pieces? Come on, my dear, come and sit down over here. Get a chair, Captain Yates. Come on, you sit down here,” the Doctor said softly as he guided her to sit down.

“Wait a minute, Doctor. You told me once that it was impossible to hypnotize someone into killing themselves. The survival instinct is too strong, you said,” Rose insisted.

“Well, it depends. Under most forms of hypnosis, that might be the case, but the Master's telepathic abilities are beyond compare. He can completely control the human mind,” the Doctor explained.

“So he can just take over anyone he likes?” Sergeant Benton asked incredulously.

“No, not quite. No, some minds are stubborn enough to resist hypnosis. In any case, it doesn't last. Away from the Master's influence, the mind struggles constantly to free itself,” the Doctor told them.

“Is she in some kind of trance?” the Captain questioned as he looked closely at Jo.

“I think the current jargon is schizoid dissociation. It's because she was forced to do something against her will and her conscious mind refuses to accept the fact. The result is a deep trauma,” the Doctor responded.

“Jo? Where's the Master?” Captain Yates asked her loudly, hoping to break through to her.

“She won't remember that,” the Doctor informed him, knowing that she likely wouldn't remember anything of her recent experiences.

“But she might. Jo! Where is the Master?” Yates shouted again.

“Leave her alone. He just said that she's had a traumatic experience. You don't want to scare her even more, do you?” Rose said as she pulled him away from the poor girl.

“I'll do what I can for her,” the Doctor interjected and sat next to Jo as he tried to reach her. “Jo, wake up. Wake up, Jo. This is the Doctor. You're amongst friends.”

Rose could see that the Captain was about to interrupt and urged him to let the Doctor do what he knew was best.

“Doctor?” Jo mumbled.

“Yes?” the Doctor encouraged her as she started to slip back into awareness of her surroundings.

“Doctor? Doctor!” she shouted as if waking from a nightmare, despite the fact that her eyes had been open the whole time.

“Alright, alright,” he soothed her panic by holding her hands firmly.

“Doctor!” she cried again.

“Calm down, Jo. Calm down. We're quite safe,” he said reassuringly.

Rose moved to Jo's other side and gave her a hug.

“There was an explosion!” Jo sobbed as bits of her memory came back to her.

“That was a long way away. Believe me, that was a long way away. Now we're all quite safe. Look, we're all here,” the Doctor told her.

“The box! I had to open it! There was a voice,” Jo rambled confusedly.

“It's alright, Jo. You're safe now. Do you remember where you were when you heard the voice?” Rose asked softly and kept her arms supportively around Jo's shoulders.

“A room,” she said rather unhelpfully. “I don't know where.”

“Yes. What sort of a room?” the Doctor prompted.

“There was a desk,” she added. “A telephone.”

“An office? Was it a factory office?” the Doctor wondered.

“Yes! Yes, an office,” Jo told him, finally smiling.

“Yes, well, where was that factory? Do you know the name of the factory?” he questioned, hoping she might remember where she had gone before her mind had been overtaken.

“No,” she said despondently.

“Well, try and remember,” he told her.

“I can't remember. I can't remember!” she cried.

“It's alright, Jo. It might come back to you. For now, let's get you a nice cuppa, alright?” Rose suggested and Jo nodded gratefully.

As Rose and Jo sat together, drinking their tea, Jo asked, “So, you're married to the Doctor in the future?”

“Yes, time travel makes things rather complicated sometimes,” Rose replied with a smile.

“If you don't mind my saying so, he seems a little old for you already,” Jo commented.

Rose laughed at that and told her, “Oh, Jo, you have no idea. He's about three hundred years old already and I'm in my thirties, I think. But when I met him, he was well over a thousand Earth years old. The Doctor and the Time Lords have a way of cheating death, called regeneration. He hasn't always looked the way he does now, in fact, I didn't look anything like this when I met him. I've regenerated too.”

“So what did he look like when you met him?” Jo wondered.

“When I first met the Doctor, he looked like he was about forty as far as humans go. Short cropped hair, big ears and a black leather jacket. Very bad boy,” she said with a smirk.

Jo's eyebrows raised dramatically. She couldn't possibly picture the Doctor wearing a leather jacket. He was such a gentleman. More like a brilliant professor than a bad boy.

“During a regeneration, everything about looks and tastes and personality changes. His memories and underlying morality stays the same, but you'd never recognize him otherwise,” Rose explained. “You wouldn't have recognized me from before either,” she admitted.

“And because all of this is happening before he's officially met me, he'll have to suppress the memories of it all later. He'll either have to do the same for you or you'll never be able to mention any of this to him at all. Him knowing about me before it's time would cause a paradox that might mean we never met at all,” Rose explained further.

“It's getting late, perhaps we should call it a night,” Jo suggested after a moment.

“You're absolutely right. Let's all start fresh in the morning,” Rose agreed and gave Jo a hug before saying goodnight.

Rose was happy to spend the night snuggled in the arms of her Doctor, even if it wasn't yet the arms of Alex and Evander. She hoped they were alright, wherever they were. She debated sending the signal to unlock their memories further, but didn't want to add jealousy on top of worry for the moment. Maybe in the morning, they would find a way to cancel out the signal that was blocking the TARDIS from landing.

For the Doctor, this was something entirely new. Not only spending the night with someone else in his bed, but having her cuddled closely in his arms. She seemed to need it though, so he just tried to enjoy the pleasant buzz in his mind at having her close.

The next morning, they were happy to see Jo looking ready to face the day and the Doctor greeted her warmly, “Hello, Jo. Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, I'm fine, thank you,” she replied.

“That's good,” he told her.

“I just wanted to say how sorry I am,” Jo told him.

“What on earth for?” he wondered.

“The bomb! I might have killed you all,” she said.

“But Jo, you weren't in control of yourself. The Master was manipulating you, that's not your fault,” Rose reassured her.

“She's right, that was nothing to do with you,” the Doctor agreed.

The Brigadier entered the lab then, and said, “You're supposed to be on sick leave, Miss Grant.”

“I'm ok now again, sir,” Jo replied.

“Oh, so you've recovered your memory then?” he asked pointedly.

“No, I”m afraid I haven't. I've tried and tried to remember,” Jo admitted.

“Yes, well don't. It'll only make things worse. Leave your mind alone. Something may pop up of its own accord,” the Doctor advised.

“Yes, well, we can't just sit about waiting for something to pop up from Miss Grant's mind. If my agents don't turn up something soon, I'm going to surround and search every factory on that list,” Alistair sighed in frustration.

“You know, Brigadier, your methods have all the refined subtlety of a bull in a china shop,” the Doctor complained.

Captain Yates joined them then, with a report.

“Any news?” Alistair asked.

“Well, it's a bit tenuous, sir,” Yates replied.

“Well, out with it,” he ordered.

“You know the field where we found Professor Philip's car?” the Captain began.

“Yes,” the Brigadier acknowledged.

“Well, Sergeant Benton noticed that the turf was all churned up. So he did a bit of checking and he found that a circus had just left,” he told them.

“Oh? Where's the circus now?” the Doctor wondered.

“Tarminster,” Yates responded.

“I'll get some of my men down there with photographs of Philips. Someone at the circus may have seen him,” the Brigadier said.

“I haven't been to a circus for years. Would you care to accompany me, Rose?” the Doctor asked.

“I'd be delighted, Doctor,” Rose replied with a smile.

“Alright, Doctor. I'll get you an escort,” Alistair told him.

“No, thank you, Brigadier. If you don't mind, we don't want a lot of soldiers crashing about, do we?” the Doctor protested.

“Can I come?” Jo asked.

“Er, no, Miss Grant, I don't think so. Not just yet,” the Doctor told her.

“But I'm find now,” she argued.

“Miss Grant,” the Brigadier warned.

Rose winked at Jo, knowing full well that the girl would find a way to come along whether she was welcome or not. She was perfect as a companion to the Doctor in that regard.

“I'll need some photographs of that man Philips,” the Doctor told the Brigadier, oblivious to the ladies' interaction.

The Doctor and the Brigadier kept up their discussion as Rose kept her arm linked with the Doctor's. 

When they got into the car, Rose noticed Jo hiding in the back seat as the Doctor drove them to the circus. She didn't say anything but smiled knowingly at her.

Rose and the Doctor showed the photos of the scientist around to the staff, asking if anyone had seen him. Everyone denied ever having seen the man. Rose turned towards a large, blue, horse box when she heard a familiar singing sound.

“Doctor, I hear a TARDIS. Do you hear it?” Rose asked him quietly.

The Doctor stopped for a moment to concentrate before he replied, “I certainly do. Come on.”

He placed some kind of listening device on the door to be sure that this was, in fact, a TARDIS. They were just about to try to get inside, when they were both grabbed by a couple of very strong men and pulled into a nearby caravan. Once inside, they were each tied to a chair as a smarmy looking man smoking a cigar stood before them.

“This is outrageous. Let us go at once!” the Doctor shouted.

“You've got some hopes. What's your name?” the man demanded.

“Smith,” the Doctor said simply.

“Smith? You've got no imagination. What about you, love?” he sneered and turned to eye Rose appreciatively.

“Rose,” she replied with a glare.

“Why were you so interested in my friend's horse box?” the man asked the Doctor as he blew cigar smoke into his face.

“What's your friend's name?” the Doctor questioned rather than answering.

“His name's none of your business,” he replied.

“A strange name,” the Doctor commented and Rose chuckled beside him. “How long's the horse box been here?” the Doctor asked.

“Shut up! I'm asking the questions! Tony,” the man ordered and the grunt behind the Doctor pulled his arms back painfully. “He'll snap your arm like a twig, Mister. Tony don't talk much but he's strong.”

“Alright, my dear chap, there's no need to do that. I'm perfectly prepared to answer all your questions. And, er, what was the question?” the Doctor acquiesced.

“My friend's horse box. Why were you so interested?” the man demanded.

“I was listening,” the Doctor told him.

“What for?” the man asked.

“Certain vibrations,” the Doctor answered honestly.

“Hmm. I don't think my friend's going to like you,” the man commented.

“I'm sure of it. Where is he?” the Doctor asked.

“Away,” was all the man would say.

“How much are they paying you?” the Doctor asked, hoping to appeal to the usual motivations of men like this.

“Come, come, Mister Smith. Gentlemen don't discuss money,” the man sneered at him.

“It's Doctor actually. And that is absolute nonsense, gentlemen never talk about anything else. Now, listen to me. If you're prepared to forget that you've ever seen us and let us go, I will reward you very handsomely,” the Doctor told him.

“Is that so? Let's have a look, Tony,” the man ordered and Tony reached into the Doctor's pocket to remove the only wallet he could find. The wallet was empty except for the photograph they had been showing around.

“Oh, pity,” the man said, seeming unsurprised.

“I've got money. But if you don't mind, I'd rather retrieve it myself, than have Tony digging in my pockets, thanks,” Rose told him.

The man leered at her as if he'd rather like digging in her pockets, but nodded to Tony to release her. Rose smiled inwardly at their belief that she was harmless as she elbowed Tony in the face and he went down to the floor like a sack of potatoes. She turned on the other man and he ran from the caravan like the coward he was.

“May I say, I highly disapprove,” the Doctor told her with a smirk that said otherwise.

Rose laughed and untied him. They exited the caravan just in time to see Jo running towards them.

“Jo, what the blazes are you doing here? I told you to stay at headquarters,” the Doctor chastised.

“It's just as well for you I didn't, I've seen Professor Philips,” Jo told them.

“Really? Where?” Rose asked her.

“He went into a horse box, over there,” she replied.

“The Master's TARDIS?” Rose wondered and the Doctor nodded gravely.

They saw the Professor exit the TARDIS and head straight for them with a silver stick of some kind in his hand. The Doctor felt panic rising in the pit of his stomach. This situation was getting more dangerous by the moment.

“Wait! Philips, wait!” the Doctor shouted to the man who was obviously under the Master's control. “Don't move, ladies,” he told them.

“What's he holding?” Jo wondered.

“Some sort of a grenade. Now, Philips, you listen to me. You are about to commit murder,” the Doctor told him firmly.

“I must. He said I must!” Professor Philips cried with desperate tears running down his face. It was obvious that he was trying to fight off the control, but failing.

“Wait. You just listen. The Master is controlling your mind. You must resist him. You can resist him. You are Professor George Philips of the Radio Telescope Research Centre. You must resist him!” the Doctor insisted.

Philips whimpered and ran as quickly as he could away from them. The Doctor realized quickly what the man was doing and grabbed the arms of both Jo and Rose to throw them to safety.

“Get down! Both of you!” he shouted and pulled them both down onto the grass, partially covering Rose with his own body to shield her.

Behind them, there was a huge explosion. Dirt and rocks flew over their heads and rained down on them harmlessly. The Doctor helped them up off the ground before going to examine the body of Professor Philips. There was a key clutched in his hand and the Doctor took it gratefully.

“What happened?” Jo wondered.

“He was fighting the control and managed to save us. Pity he couldn't save himself as well,” Rose responded sadly.

The Doctor moved to the door of the Master's TARDIS and used the key to get inside.

“What are you doing?” Jo asked him.

“Shan't be a moment,” he replied with a slight grin.

They saw a mob of circus people gathering nearby, led by the man who had held them in the caravan earlier.

“Hurry up, love. We've got company,” Rose called to him through the door.

The Doctor emerged from the TARDIS holding a small device.

“Are you stealing TARDIS parts?” Rose asked with a giggle.

“Perhaps. Well, that didn't take long, did it?” the Doctor told them.

“Long enough, I'm afraid,” Jo warned them as the mob got closer to them.

The circus people started shouting threats at them, approaching with baseball bats, crow bars and other frighteningly violent weapons. The Doctor positioned himself in front of Jo and Rose while he tried to talk them down. They wouldn't listen of course and they were very thankful when a police car arrived. The three of them jumped into the back of the vehicle, happy to escape the deadly scene.

When they had finally all caught their breath, Rose looked to the front seat to thank the men who had rescued them. She felt both of her hearts stutter at the sight.

“Missy,” Rose sneered and the Time Lady turned in the front passenger seat to smile evilly at them.

“How nice to see you, Rose,” she said, her voice sickly sweet.


	8. Terror of the Autons: Part Three

Chapter Eight – Terror of the Autons: Part Three

 

“The feeling is not mutual,” Rose told her with a scowl.

“Where are you taking us?” the Doctor demanded.

“You? Why I'm taking you to your death, Doctor. That was the entire purpose of travelling back through your timeline, you know,” Missy explained.

“I won't let that happen,” Rose warned.

“You've no way to stop me, freak. I could kill him right now and you'd have nowhere to run,” she sighed and tilted her head in thought.

“Yes, but you won't. I know enough about you to know that you've got something better than that planned,” Rose said knowingly.

The Doctor watched carefully and allowed Rose to handle this conversation. She had made it clear that her versions of him had shared nuances about Missy's psyche that he wasn't aware of. And she seemed to be doing quite well at both delaying her and getting her to admit her plans.

“Well, what fun would it be without an audience?” Missy replied.

The car finally stopped in the middle of a quarry and the three of them were ordered out of the car at gun point by Missy. The Auton that was driving stayed in the car for the moment.

“So, where's this audience you spoke of? I don't see anyone else here,” the Doctor said, crossing his arms impatiently.

“I just need to send them an invitation,” Missy told them and pulled a small device out of her pocket.

At the push of a button, they suddenly heard the sounds of the TARDIS materializing beside them. Rose was both ecstatic and terrified in equal measure. She felt her husbands' links to her reestablish suddenly and sent them a frantic warning, ~'Missy is right outside the door, my loves. And she happens to have all of us at gun point.'~

Alex and Evander both knew that they were walking into a dangerous situation right outside the doors, but it would only be worse if they didn't cooperate with Missy's plans for the moment. So, they exited the TARDIS with their hands in the air.

“So nice of you to join us, Doctors. Rose has been waiting ages for you to join us, haven't you dear?” Missy told them.

“This is your audience?” Rose scoffed. “He gets to watch himself die? You aren't even going to give your past self the pleasure of watching? That seems rather selfish. I mean, he's gone to all this trouble to create this fabulous partnership with the Nestene and not only are you depriving him of the satisfaction of killing the Doctor himself, but you won't even let him watch?” Rose prodded, hoping to push Missy's buttons to the point of making a mistake.

Missy frowned as she acknowledged the fact that the only witness that would survive the whole affair was Jo and she really couldn't care less what that creature thought of any of it. They could all see her considering Rose's words, trying to find a way to gain a larger audience without losing out on the opportunity to complete her plan while she had the chance.

“Perhaps I should call the Time Lords. Warn them of your actions before the war even starts. I could watch them execute you instead,” Missy threatened.

“You know you can't stop the war, Missy. It's fixed. There are so many events that are fixed in my past that this plan of yours to destroy me here will likely tear apart the entire universe,” Evander argued.

The third Doctor listened to the conversation carefully. He knew this was future knowledge that would be extremely dangerous to him. Something awful stood in the future of the Time Lords and apparently, he was deeply involved in it.

~'Try not to worry about it now, love. It isn't something you can change and it wasn't your fault,'~ Rose thought to him when she could feel his dangerous curiosity growing.

“Do you think I care if I rip apart the universe? That's the whole point, isn't it? That I was the one in control of it all. That I did it. You seem to keep forgetting, Doctor... Bananas,” she laughed.

~'I'll bet the Master wouldn't like that plan. We've got to get them together. The Master won't let her destroy him before he's had his chance at domination instead,'~ Rose suggested to all three Doctors silently. She felt their agreement with that assessment.

“Still, bananas or not, are you really going to deny your past self the satisfaction of pulling the trigger? If your plan doesn't happen to bring down reapers upon the universe, then you'll cease to exist and he'll be the one to continue along the timelines,” Alex prompted.

Missy pursed her lips in thought. She actually did seem to be considering it. The third Doctor tried to think of a way out from at least this particular situation so that they could regroup. He thought to Rose, ~'I don't suppose you could think of a way to get us all into the TARDIS? We could go back to UNIT and formulate a plan.'~

Rose passed along the thought to the other Doctors. Just as they were considering those possibilities, a car approached their location. The instant that they saw Missy's attention shift to the vehicle, Rose grabbed the frilly shirted Doctor and positioned herself between him and Missy. Alex grabbed Jo, and Evander got the doors open.

It all happened very quickly and Missy did manage to fire a couple of shots before they were all inside. Thankfully, she missed hitting the Doctors, but as soon as the door was securely shut, Rose crumpled to the floor.

“Get her to the infirmary!” Evander shouted as he went to the console to relocate the TARDIS to the lab at UNIT.

Alex scooped her up, bridal style and ran with her to the infirmary, followed closely by the other Doctor and Jo.

“It's my leg,” Rose told them and winced in pain.

“Don't you worry, love. We'll have you fixed up in no time,” Alex reassured her and sent her mental cuddles that he had been missing terribly during their separation.

Alex worked quickly with the equipment in the infirmary to repair the damage to Rose's leg. Thankfully, the shot had barely grazed her, with the powerful weapon that Missy was using, a direct hit might have even killed her permanently. As he was working, the other Doctor held her hands. Jo watched the whole thing with great curiosity, she had never seen technology like this.

Evander joined them just as they were finishing up. “I radioed Alistair just as we were leaving. It was him in the car and I wanted to let him to know to get away from there. We're back in the lab at UNIT,” he informed them.

“Come here, I've missed you two,” Rose said as she reached for both of her Doctors. 

They happily accepted the invitation. Alex scooped her into a tight hug, while Evander entwined their fingers together and nuzzled at her neck. Rose decided she could update them more quickly on the situation by unlocking their memories of the events so far and sent the signal. They both paused in the adoration of their wife and furrowed their brows during the process. Rose wasn't worried, until they both turned to glare at the past Doctor.

The third Doctor could see the moment that Rose had decided to unlock their memories. He had, in fact, anticipated a bit of jealousy or anger from his future selves regarding the... activities he and Rose had engaged in. The Doctor was not, however, expecting to face the Oncoming Storm.

Rose felt it the moment their jealous fury turned towards their past incarnation. She immediately positioned herself between them. “Don't you dare get jealous of yourself. You remember what happened but do you remember the details? You weren't here and I needed my husband. He was here and he is you, so you can stop this right now,” she warned angrily.

“But Roooose,” Alex whined. “This is worse than when she snogged eight!” he added and threw his arms up dramatically.

“At least we can say she was the first now,” Evander joked and cracked a smile as they all felt some acceptance and humour in the situation.

Jo blushed furiously and excused herself.

“I think we may have scandalized your assistant, Doctor,” Rose teased.

The Doctor in the ruffled shirt chuckled at that. “Perhaps, but I don't think I particularly care,” he replied.

“Ah, Jo... you'll probably have to adjust her memories of all this anyway. I doubt she'd be able to keep it quiet the way Jamie did. Not too sure about Alistair. He didn't give any indications that he'd met you before when we saw him in Peru did he, Rose?” Alex pondered.

“Not that I noticed, but the Brigadier does seem like he might be able to hide that pretty well,” Rose told him.

“Anyway, it would probably be best if we got back to work stopping the Nestene invasion and Missy,” Evander interrupted.

“Quite right. Lethbridge-Stewart is likely back by now,” the Doctor agreed and made his way back toward the console room.

Rose, Alex, and Evander followed with their arms linked. None of them were quite ready to be separated again, though they knew that one press of a button would have Missy dragging Rose away from them again.

Upon entering the UNIT lab, Rose noticed that Evander had parked their TARDIS directly across the room from the younger TARDIS. Jo, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and Captain Yates were waiting for them and Jo was apparently trying to explain the extra police box.

“Let me, Jo,” the third Doctor interrupted her. “It's quite simple. I told you that Rose is from my personal future. You know perfectly well, Brigadier, that when I die, my appearance changes. Those two men are both me.”

“Alright. Let's assume for a moment that I believe that. Why aren't there three police boxes then?” Alistair asked.

“Well, there was a bit of an accident during one of my regenerations that ended up in a split that created a biological metacrisis, resulting in a second me. So, from that point onward, there have been two of me,” Alex tried to explain.

“Yes, this is all very fascinating, but I think we have bigger problems to worry about. Namely Autons, the Master, and a completely insane Missy to worry about,” Evander complained.

“Right you are, Doctor. I've compiled a list of the known facts, so we'd best start the briefing,” the Brigadier agreed.

Alex and Evander groaned, but Rose sent them some thoughts that might distract them a bit during the Brigadier's briefing. Alistair raised his eyebrows at their less than enthusiastic response to his suggestion, but continued anyway. With a large map spread out on the table, Alistair and Captain Yates presented all of the information available about the Nestenes and the Master.

During their discussion, Alex and Evander were sitting on either side of Rose where the trio had perched on the countertop. They were sending each other intimate memories while trying to pretend they were paying attention. The other Doctor smirked at them, but was himself rather distracted by the part he had stolen from the Master's TARDIS.

The Doctor decided that he'd heard enough of the Brigadier's rambling and started heading for his TARDIS.

“...point ten. What are you doing, Doctor?” Alistair asked pointedly before he could disappear inside his time ship.

“Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Did you want me?” he questioned.

“I should like your attention, Doctor, until we've settled on a course of action. That is, of course, unless you have something of greater importance to attend to?” the Brigadier chastised.

Rose and Alex giggled while Evander stifled his chuckles. They knew they weren't paying any attention either, but it was very funny to see him scolded like a school boy.

“As if you three were paying any attention either,” he snapped at them and pouted. “No, no, of course not. No, do carry on, it's most interesting,” the Doctor told the Brig with a smile.

“Thank you. Where was I?” Alistair refocused on his presentation.

“Ten, sir,” Yates responded dutifully.

“Ten. The enemy intention...”

“The enemy intention is to occupy your planet. I should have thought that was quite obvious,” the Doctor interrupted impatiently.

“To do that they will have to land additional forces. In other words, this is no more than a diversionary thrust. Do you agree, Doctor?” Alistair responded forcefully, clearly not happy with being interrupted.

“Well, I should have thought that was pretty obvious too, isn't it?” the Doctor acknowledged.

“Do they though? I thought they were just taking over all the plastic with their big transmitter thing?” Rose wondered.

“Well, that's how they attack, but their goal is always to get more of their own down here and spread out,” Evander explained.

“We have, as you know, raided the circus and arrested Rossini and his thugs. And what have we learned from them?” the Brigadier asked.

“Nothing. Rossini is just a tool. The Master used him and then discarded him,” the Doctor replied.

“There was no sign of alien activity at the circus. This mysterious horse box had vanished. So had the Autons,” Alistair reported.

“Naturally. Oh, you have finished with me now, I hope?” the Doctor said, clearly wishing to be done with the pointless discussion.

“Not quite.”

“Oh,” he sighed despondently.

Rose couldn't contain her snorting giggles at his pout.

“I therefore propose that we redouble our security here and concentrate on finding the Master's headquarters. If you are quite finished, Ms. Tyler,” the Brigadier chastised.

“Terribly sorry to have interrupted, Brigadier. He just looked like you had taken away his ice cream cone,” Rose commented and even Jo, who had been quietly taking notes the whole time, had to stifle a laugh.

“Well, now that we have finally reached that brilliant conclusion and might be done wasting time, how about getting on with it? Captain Yates, is my car back yet?” the Doctor nearly shouted.

“Safe and sound, Doctor,” Yates told him.

“Oh good, that's something anyway,” he grumbled and disappeared into his TARDIS.

“I should go apologize,” Rose said quietly and hopped off of the countertop to follow him.

“Have you two anything to add?” the Brigadier questioned the other Doctors.

“Well, since our memories of these events were slightly altered and suppressed, what we think happened can't really be trusted. But there is the possibility that some of it was true. It's been several centuries, so I don't remember the name of the factory, but I think there was something to do with plastic flowers?” Alex babbled.

“We'll look into it. You never know what lead might get us there. Captain Yates, we will continue this conference in my office,” Alistair responded and the Captain followed him out of the lab.

The Doctor and Rose came back from hiding in the TARDIS then and the Doctor began to work on adjusting some of the workings on the circuit that he had stolen.

“Do you know, I sometimes think that military intelligence is a contradiction in terms,” the Doctor snarked.

“I'd have to agree,” Alex announced.

“Well, we are him, so of course we agree. Although, Alistair has saved our hide on more than one occasion,” Evander added.

“You're not very grateful, are you?” Jo argued.

“What? For having our time wasted?” the Doctor questioned.

“If it weren't for the distraction of their arrival, we might never have escaped,” Jo told him. 

“You're quite right, Jo. I'll apologize, if I have the time,” the Doctor acknowledged. He continued to fuss with the electronic device he had stolen, while tossing a similar looking one on the counter next to him.

“What are those things?” Jo asked him.

“Well, that is the discarded circuit from my TARDIS and this is an identical circuit that I, er, borrowed from the Master's horse box,” the Doctor replied.

“It won't work, you know,” Evander told him.

“We'll see about that,” the Doctor argued stubbornly.

“What does it do?” Jo wondered.

“You wait there and I'll show you,” he said confidently as he strode back into his TARDIS.

“It's the dematerialization circuit, Jo. The fact that it's broken is why he can't leave in his TARDIS. The Time Lords broke it and left him here until they think he's learned his lesson,” Rose explained and gave her husbands a knowing smirk at the last part.

They heard the TARDIS engines start, but there was a loud thud almost immediately. The Doctor exited the ship, coughing as smoke poured out of the doors behind him.

“Of all the stupid useless....” the Doctor shouted and kicked the side of the police box.

“Doctor, stop being childish,” Jo scolded.

“What's wrong with being childish? I like being childish,” the Doctor pouted. Rose gave him a comforting hug and he happily accepted it, taking in the sweet scent of her hair.

“We told you it wouldn't work. You can't replace a mark one with a mark two. However, keep that and the Master isn't going anywhere either,” Alex commented with a grin.

The Doctor laughed. “You're absolutely right. Wherever he is, he's trapped on Earth.”

“Why can't you get him a replacement circuit?” Jo asked the future Doctors.

“Because it would change our past, Jo. And that's precisely the kind of thing that we are hoping to prevent. Think about how every little decision that you make affects the path of your life. Meeting a certain person, going to a different school, choosing a different job... I have a lot of regrets in my past, but for what I have right now, I wouldn't change a thing,” Evander explained and looked lovingly at Rose.

“There was a tiny little decision that was changed once. Rose went to great lengths to set it right. You see, I had lost Rose at one point. Lost her before I ever had the chance to tell her... and I was ready for the next catastrophe to just throw myself into it. But I met a friend and she stopped me. But there was this... thing. It changed her decision one day in her past. She turned right instead of left, and because of that, she never met me. A parallel world was created around her from that one decision and in that universe, I died. Rose managed to travel into that parallel universe and fixed it. She got Donna to turn left and everything was back to the way it should have been. And she came back to me,” Alex said and tears filled the corners of his eyes at the painful memories.

There was a heavy silence in the room for a few minutes and Rose moved to snuggle into Alex's arms instead, while he got his emotions back under control.

“So you see, Jo. If we were to help my past self shorten his time stranded on Earth from what we knew it to be, there would be some very important people that we wouldn't meet and travel with. There might be some dangerous events happening here that he wouldn't be around to fix. Or he might find himself in some other situations that could cause the whole thing to collapse because we then wouldn't be his future and wouldn't come here to give him the thing that changed it all in the first place,” Evander concluded his lesson on causality and paradoxes.

They could see Jo was trying to absorb all of that information, but her exhausted brain was having trouble sorting through it. Rose knew that she needed a break, even if she and the Doctors could go for another day or two before needing to sleep.

“Alright. It's been a long day for everyone. I think you ought to go get some rest, Jo. We'll see you in the morning,” Rose told her and with a grateful nod, the woman left.

“Now that the sleepy humans are all gone, what are we going to do?” Evander asked.

Rose hummed in thought for a moment before suggesting, “Movie night?”

Evander groaned and Alex bounced to her side. The other Doctor watched them curiously, unsure whether he was included in these plans for the evening. He had slept the previous night and certainly didn't need to sleep again any time soon.

“Of course you're invited, Doctor,” Rose told him, knowing that look.

There was some debate over which movies to watch. Alex suggested the Muppet Movie and several Disney cartoons, Evander wanted to laugh at historical documentaries, and the third Doctor suggested some James Bond films. Ultimately, they settled on Rose's suggestion of Audrey Hepburn, starting with Sabrina.

There were several arguments over seating arrangements, but they settled on shifting positions between movies and by the end of the night, there was popcorn thrown everywhere in the media room.


	9. Terror of the Autons: Part Four

Chapter Nine – Terror of the Autons: Part Four

 

The next morning, they were presented with a report from the various groups out searching. None of them had seemed to find anything and the third Doctor tore the reports in frustration.

“It's worthless! Absolutely worthless!” he shouted.

“Calm down, love. Don't forget that the Master and Mistress want to find you, after all,” Rose pointed out.

“Yes, but how many people have to die in the meantime, hmm?” he grumbled. “Days of exhaustive investigation by the Brigadier's band of bloodhounds and what have they discovered? Nothing, absolutely nothing. The incompetent imbeciles!”

“We're doing everything possible, Doctor,” Jo told him defensively.

“No news from any of those plastic factories?” the Doctor asked.

“Well, there were those reports of a promotional tour,” Jo said, not sure how it could be related.

“My dear girl, the Master is scarcely likely to advertise what he's doing,” the Doctor argued.

“Hang on a minute. Oh, my head... this was too long ago and now the memories are all jumbled up. There is something to do with that promotional tour and plastic flowers, like I said before,” Alex told them as he scrunched his eyes shut and tapped his head as if he could shake the memories loose somehow.

“Even longer for me. Genius I may be, but I've got an extra thousand years on you,” Evander grumbled to Alex.

As they were wracking their brains, the Brigadier entered the lab with another man.

“Doctors, Rose, Jo, this is Mr. Brownrose from the Ministry. He's come to us with a rather alarming story,” Alistair informed them.

“Yes, well, I'm not in the mood for stories,” the Doctor snapped, clearly still frustrated.

“Is this man a member of your staff?” Mr. Brownrose asked.

“The Doctor acts as our scientific consultant, yes. This is his assistant, Miss Grant. And... his associates,” the Brigadier vaguely introduced them, but it was apparent that the man didn't particularly care who they were in any case.

“How do you do. I hope he's qualified to deal with a matter of this complexity,” Brownrose complained.

“I think you'll find, sir, that I'm qualified to deal with practically everything, if I choose,” the Doctor countered haughtily.

“I must say, Brigadier, I'm far from satisfied that you've grasped the urgency of this matter,” the man argued.

“Mr. Brownrose, you'll have to excuse the Doctor for being a bit out of sorts today. You see, we've been dealing with some very delicate matters of late and the stress is getting to him a bit. How can we help you, sir?” Rose interrupted in an attempt to smooth over relations.

“She really is very good at that,” Alex proudly said to the other two Doctors quietly as they watched the man take an instant liking to her.

“That's why we let her handle the diplomacy. Then we can just be brilliant without having to be nice,” Evander added.

“Rose is absolutely incredible. How could we possibly deserve her?” the third Doctor wondered.

“We don't,” Alex and Evander replied in unison.

They tuned back into the conversation as Rose got everyone back on track. “So what's going on then, Brigadier?” she asked.

“Well, there has been a wave of sudden deaths all over the Home Counties,” he replied.

“Cause?” the Doctor asked.

“Asphyxiation, heart failure, shock,” Brownrose told them as he pulled some pages from his briefcase.

“In other words, no satisfactory explanation at all,” the Brigadier added.

“I'm afraid not,” Mr. Brownrose agreed.

“Some kind of virus?” Jo suggested.

“There's no evidence of infection,” Brownrose replied.

“Any connection between the victims?” the Doctor questioned.

“None whatsoever. Different ages, sexes and occupations. Apart from the first two deaths, there's no connection at all,” Brownrose insisted.

“That you can see,” Rose added quietly.

“What about the first two?” the Doctor asked, taking Rose's thought under consideration as well.

“Well, the first was a man called McDermott, the second, Farrel,” Brownrose reported from his pages.

“Farrel?” Jo asked, her face clouded in thought, as if she'd heard that name before.

“Production Manager and retired owner of the same plastics factory,” he informed them.

“There we go, that's our factory,” Rose said with a smile.

They didn't all need to go for the investigation, but Rose was unwilling to let the young Doctor out of her sight, in case Missy was around, and Alex and Evander refused to be separated from Rose. So, Bessie was rather crowded as they made their way to interview Mr. Farrel's wife regarding his death. Jo sat in the front seat with the Doctor wearing a cape, while the other three sat in the back.

The woman was quite distressed over her husband's death, but they managed to establish that her husband had been rather upset about something at the plastics factory that was being run by their son. A new customer, known as Colonel Masters, was influencing things more than he thought was right. He also mentioned that he didn't like the man at all.

“Can you remember anything else that your husband said about this man? Anything would help us,” Rose prompted her.

“I don't think so. Oh, John did bring one of the new dolls home to examine,” Mrs. Farrel replied.

“What sort of dolls?” the Doctor asked.

“Well, wasn't my idea of a doll at all,” she told them.

“Could we have a look at it, Mrs. Farrel?” Rose wondered.

“Yes, of course,” she replied.

She handed a large plastic doll to Rose. It was brown and looked like a little monster of some kind. There didn't appear to be any moving parts and it was quite heavy as well.

“It wasn't intended for children, naturally. Some sort of a novelty for grown ups, I suppose. It's odd, you know,” she added thoughtfully.

“What is?” the Doctor asked.

“Well, when I went out of the room, that thing was on the radiator by the door,” Mrs. Farrel began. “But after they'd taken John away, I found it under the curtains. It was as if it was trying to get out.”

“Of course, I need to stop trying to remember and just pay attention to what's going on,” Evander interrupted rudely.

“Excuse us,” Rose apologized as she led Evander out of the house.

“Thanks for your help!” Alex called back as he followed them.

“Yes, thank you so much. We're so sorry for your loss,” Jo told her before she and the other Doctor returned to the car as well.

“Alright, what conclusions have you come to that couldn't wait until we had left her company?” the Doctor asked.

“The doll, the flowers, the factory... they're making these plastic things and giving them away to people. Then, they activate them somehow, and the nearest person gets killed by it. Obviously,” Evander told them.

“Right. The flowers, what did they do?” Alex mused as certain details were half remembered.

“Well, let's take this thing back to the lab and see what we can find out about it,” the Doctor announced as he started the car.

“Why go to the lab? Give it here,” Alex demanded as he took out his sonic. He scanned the doll thoroughly before reporting his findings, “Solid plastic. All the way through. No embedded technology.”

“Hold on though. They were using the radio telescope to start all this off. And they used the London Eye the last time we saw them, as a transmitter. What if it's some kind of radio signal that activates them?” Rose suggested.

“Brilliant! I'll work on finding the frequency,” Alex told them as he started to flick through the settings on his sonic.

“Let's not waste time with going back to UNIT. We know which plastics factory it is now. Let's go straight there,” Evander advised the other Doctor, who nodded and started the car. “I missed this car,” Evander mused as he patted the side of it.

“Hadn't we better tell the Brigadier what we're doing?” Jo asked.

“Nah, he'll just want to come along and spoil our fun,” Alex replied, buzzing his sonic over the doll again.

Suddenly, the little plastic monster jolted to life and leapt for Alex's throat. Rose shrieked and tried to pull the thing off of him, ineffectually. Evander cursed in Gallifreyan and used his own sonic to immobilize it, just as he had with the plastic arm in Rose's apartment so long ago. The thing went still and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well. Short wave radio signals it is,” Alex said brightly and Rose shook her head.

When they arrived at the plastics factory, they found the main doors open, but no one seemed to be there.

“Looks as though they've relocated,” Rose commented as they looked through the office.

“Yes. Today,” the Doctor added.

“How do you know that?” Jo wondered.

“Desk calendar,” he replied.

“Hello. What have we got here? Didn't I say?” Alex announced as he picked up a plastic daffodil from the floor.

“Plastic flowers, you said. So what are they for? Can you remember?” Rose asked him.

“Well, they're plastic. I'm sure they'll probably activate them with some kind of signal and they'll do... whatever it is that they are meant to do,” Alex replied, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

“Oh that was terribly helpful, Alex, thank you for the brilliant play by play,” Evander snarked.

“Well, you're no better! At least I remembered that there were flowers involved! Did you want me to activate it with the sonic and see what it does?” Alex asked as he examined it visually.

“Best not here. Why don't we take it back to the lab, just in case,” the third Doctor suggested.

“We would be closer to the infirmary if it turns out to be dangerous,” Rose agreed and looked at the pages on the desk. “Well, this might be something important. Farrel has ordered a coach this week. A fifteen-seater. Do you think it might have anything to do with that promotional tour mentioned earlier?” she wondered.

“Yes! Yes, that's it!” Alex shouted and pulled Rose into a spinning hug. “You are absolutely brilliant, my love! How did I ever live without you?”

“They're giving away the flowers. Getting them into as many hands as possible and then activating them,” Evander deduced.

“Exactly,” Alex agreed.

“But why would they do that?” Jo asked, still not understanding what these flowers could do.

“Isn't it obvious, Jo? These flowers are deadly in some way. We've got to find that coach and stop them from distributing any more of these,” the Doctor explained.

“Well then, let's get back to the lab and figure out what these things do so that we can convince Alistair to put out a warning or something,” Evander said impatiently.

“You are absolutely right, love. We've found out what we needed to know about the plan regarding the Autons. Missy doesn't appear to be here, although I'm not sure what our plan is to stop her from just dragging me onwards again,” Rose told them.

“It's the device on her wrist that's doing it. We've got to get that away from her somehow,” Alex said decisively.

“It won't stop her trying to kill you,” Rose responded dejectedly.

“Nothing will ever stop that, darling,” Evander told her softly and took her hands in his.

Rose looked up into his steel blue eyes and they both tried to smile, but were sad that there was no way to change Missy's ways. They nodded to each other and headed back to the car. The others followed them, Alex still examining the plastic flower.

The ride back to UNIT was a quiet one. Everyone seemed to be lost in thought. Evander and Rose were thinking about how to stop Missy from continuing this torture. Alex was studying the flower. Jo was wondering how plastic flowers could be deadly. The third Doctor was torn between wanting to comfort Rose somehow and trying to think of how working with the Nestene would help the Master at all.

Rose did take a moment to use her mobile to call UNIT and inform the Brigadier about the promotional tour. He agreed that they needed to find the coach and set his troops to work on it.

As soon as they arrived in the lab, Alex started setting up equipment to scan the daffodil in every way possible. Jo put the monster doll into a locked box so that it couldn't attack anyone if it were suddenly activated. Rose sat back on the countertop to watch them work and Evander decided to check the library for any information about what kind of device might do what Missy was doing. He knew that Rose was right; they couldn't just keep chasing Missy, they had to stop her.

The other Doctor hung up his cape on the stand near the door, then went to answer the phone when it started ringing. “Hello, yes? What is it?” he asked.

“Hello, Doctor. Is that you?” a male voice questioned.

“Who is this? What do you want?” the Doctor demanded firmly.

“Simply to say goodbye, Doctor,” the voice stated. A shrill warbling noise came from the phone then, and the long telephone cord began to wrap itself around his neck and arms.

“Oh my god!” Rose shouted and hopped off of the countertop to release him.

Rose tugged on the plastic cord, while Alex flicked his sonic to the frequency that would cut off the signal to the plastic. When they finally got the ruffle-shirted Doctor free, Alex picked up the receiver to see if the Master was still on the line, but it was disconnected.

“Are you alright, Doctor?” Rose asked him.

“Yes, more or less,” he replied, a bit flustered.

“What on Earth happened?” Jo questioned.

“Well, remember what we told you, Jo? The Nestenes can put life into anything made of plastic. Anything at all,” the Doctor explained.

“Oh, and the cord is plastic. Goodness, so many things are plastic,” Jo said as she suddenly realized just how bad this situation really was.

“So, why do they need these flowers? They could just have everyone's blender or hair dryer turn on them. What's so special about these that this is what they want everyone to have?” Rose wondered.

“Goodness, but you are good at this,” the Doctor said in awe.

Alex hummed happily in the back of his throat as he smiled at his wife.

“Well, let's figure it out, boys,” she told them with a roll of her eyes. 

Alex and his previous incarnation set to work on figuring out the purpose of the flowers. Jo stood nearby to help and Rose decided that she should see what Evander had come up with. She entered their TARDIS and headed for the library.

Upon entering the giant room, she saw Evander at a table with several large books in front of him. He was hunched over them, searching for some indication of exactly what Missy was using so that they could find a way of countering it. Rose sat across from him and leaned her chin on one hand.

“What's the peanut gallery up to now?” he asked without looking up at her.

“Trying to figure out what the flowers do. The Master called and tried to strangle the other Doctor with the telephone cord by sending a signal through the phone,” Rose told him.

“And why precisely do we need to know exactly what the flowers do? If they're deadly, shouldn't we just send out a public notice for everyone to get rid of them?” Evander suggested.

“You're right,” Rose gasped. “Why am I so stupid?” she moaned. 

She had been so focussed on figuring out why they needed the flowers instead of any old plastic, that she forgot about making sure that the already distributed ones were retrieved.

“You certainly aren't stupid. We always want to know the how and why of everything, but right now, preventing their plan from succeeding is the first goal,” Evander told her sincerely.

They were about to send Alex a thought to get the Brigadier to make a public announcement, when he contacted them first, ~'Alistair says that they've found the coach. It's parked in the quarry where Missy took us before. They're sending an air strike to destroy it. Bloody military.'~

~'And what will that do about all of the flowers that are already out there? They might have parked because they've finished distributing them,'~ Rose thought back to him.

~'They need to make a public announcement to have everyone get away from the flowers,'~ Evander added quickly.

~'You're right. But what if these things let out some kind of gas or something?'~ Alex asked them.

~'It would still be best for people to get away from them. We might be able to stop them from sending the activation signal if we can get to them first,'~ Rose suggested.

Rose and Evander left the library together to join the others in the lab. They entered just in time to see the Doctors struggling to get some kind of clear plastic off of Jo's face before she suffocated. They managed to peel it off in time and Alex checked her vitals.

“It's all over. You alright?” the third Doctor asked her.

“Just a bit short of breath. What happened?” Jo questioned between gasping breaths.

“Well, we figured out what the flowers do. Unfortunately, you were using that radio to signal the Brigadier far too close to the daffodil and it sprayed this plastic film over your nose and mouth,” Alex explained.

“You would have been unconscious in two minutes, dead in under ten,” the Doctor informed her.

“So all those people were killed by the daffodils?” Jo asked.

“Most likely. Now let's get that message out to the public to get rid of the damned flowers already!” Evander told them.

“Alright, are we just going to let them airstrike the coach or are we going to try and head this whole thing off somehow?” Rose asked them.

“Good afternoon, Doctors,” a man's voice interrupted from the spiral staircase located near the younger TARDIS. “I hope we're not interrupting anything important.”

They all turned to see the Master and Missy descending the staircase, weapons ready to fire.

“No, no, indeed not. You've come to kill me, of course,” the third Doctor replied and Rose shifted to move in front of him.

“As I told you before, Doctor, that was kind of the point of my travelling here,” Missy told him.

“And as we pointed out to you, Missy, if you destroy our past now, the paradox will tear the entire universe apart. You wouldn't be who you are to come back and help your past self in my destruction. Even using a TARDIS to make a paradox machine wouldn't sustain all of the mess you would create by erasing 1700 years of my existence,” Evander argued, hoping that the Master would see the problems with this now.

“I, for one, am not anxious to meet Reapers again. How about you, loves?” Rose added.

“Once was enough, thanks,” Alex replied while he looked for a chance to access the device on Missy's wrist.

“Look, I know that my memories of this event aren't accurate, but I know that the Nestene will not spare you during their invasion, Master. No matter how much you've helped them, they will take you down with them. Stop this now,” Evander pleaded, hoping that his friend, at this point in his life, still had enough sense to want to survive and enjoy his victory.

“Knowledge of his future existence does mean that there would be a paradox created in killing his past. Perhaps it would be better to destroy the future ones instead?” the Master suggested to Missy worriedly.

“I didn't come all the way back to this point in his timeline just to end him after everything went to hell. I can stop the war from ever happening. I can take over all of Gallifrey, and from there, the entire universe. If it survives. If not, at least it was me that made it happen,” Missy argued.

The Master looked at his future self with a mixture of anger and fear.

“You once asked me, Missy, what you would be without the drums. Is this what the silence has done to you?” Evander pushed.

“I don't need those blasted drums!” Missy shouted.

“They're gone? How?” the Master asked, gaping at her.

“It doesn't matter. I'm going to kill you now, Doctor. And I don't care what the consequences might be,” Missy snarled as she aimed her gun at the youngest Doctor.

The Master, fearing for his own continued existence, fired his weapon at Missy's hand. She shrieked as her gun was destroyed and spun to glare at the Master.

“How dare you!” she growled at him.

“You may not care about whether the universe continues to exist or not, but I'm not ready to die,” the Master told her furiously.

Missy scowled angrily and reached for the device on her wrist.

“No!” Alex shouted and darted forward, but it was too late.

In a flash of light, both Missy and Rose were gone from the room. Alex nearly crumpled to the floor in anguish, but Evander grabbed him by the arm and pulled his arm over his shoulder in support.

“We'll find her and we'll stop Missy. The love of my lives is finally back, I'm not losing this now,” Evander assured Alex.

“I know, but how long does all of this have to go on?” Alex moaned.

“You're right. The Nestene won't spare me in the invasion. It would be best if I left now, before they complete their plans,” the Master interrupted.

“That might be a bit tricky,” the third Doctor told him and began tossing the Master's dematerialization circuit in the air casually.

“Where did you get that?!” the Master howled.

“The circus,” he replied, still bouncing the circuit in his hand.

“Hand that unit over to me now, or I will kill your future selves. It may be a paradox to kill you while I am aware of their existence, but it does no harm to the universe now to kill them,” the Master threatened.

“Why not make a deal, eh? Bit of a compromise. You help me in stopping the Nestene and I'll give this back to you. If you hurt either of them, then I'll destroy this circuit and you'll be trapped here. I sincerely doubt that the high council will assist you,” the Doctor negotiated.

“Alright, Doctor. I agree. And for what it's worth, I regret the person it seems I will become,” the Master told Alex and Evander sincerely.

“You know we won't kill her. But we certainly can't allow her to rip apart the universe just to get back at us. And this repeated abduction of our wife has got to stop,” Alex told him.

“I think we can manage from here, old chaps. You'd best be on your way to find Rose,” the Doctor told them.

“Alright. And while it might seem like an advantage to try not suppressing those memories, Master, you really should. While you haven't succeeded in permanently killing me yet, your continued attempts at it are just as important in my past as the rest of the fixed points along it,” Evander explained.

“I understand. And to be honest, I don't want to remember that future of mine,” he responded sadly.

At that, Alex and Evander returned to their TARDIS and entered the vortex. They were waiting for the signal from Rose to tell them where she was pulled next.

*************************************

Rose suddenly found herself on the floor of some kind of café. She sat up groggily, hoping that if this happened too many more times, she might get used to being tossed through time. At a nearby table, she heard hushed voices.

“What's he doing?” the woman asked.

“Shush!” a man chastised.

“What's he doing,” she whispered insistently.

“He's sketching you,” the man replied quietly.

“Is he?” she gasped and turned quickly, knocking over the glass next to her on the table.

The man that had been sketching the young woman scowled angrily and crumpled up the paper he had been working on before throwing it to the floor. He left the café in a huff.

“I told you not to look,” he said.

“Where am I?” Rose grumbled and the pair at the table finally noticed her.

“My goodness,” the man gasped in shock and Rose instantly recognized her husband.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before the whole world seemed to shift for a moment.

“What's going on? It's like a moment repeated itself, but then changed when she appeared,” the young woman wondered.

Rose recognized her as Romana, from her husbands' memories. This was her second incarnation and Rose thought she was even more adorable than her husband had implied. She was petite, with long blonde hair, and wore an outfit reminiscent of a school girl at the moment.

“I don't know. It's as if time jumped a groove for a second,” the Doctor told her and moved to help Rose up from the floor.

“Well, that never happened the other times I was transported, so it was probably a coincidence that I arrived at the same time,” Rose told them. “I need to unlock some memories for you, Doctor. This certainly isn't the first time we've met.”

He nodded quickly and Rose placed her fingertips to his temples. They both closed their eyes and the whole process was over rather quickly. Before Rose had even opened her eyes, she found herself picked up in a twirling hug and snogged thoroughly.

“Wait a minute. Doctor, who is she?” Romana questioned.

“Not to worry, Romana. I'd like you to meet my wife, Rose,” the Doctor told her with a large, toothy grin.

Rose beamed at him. She rather liked this boisterous personality. “I'm from his future. In my time, the Master has regenerated into a woman and calls herself Missy. She's trying to kill the Doctor in his past and the device that she's using to travel along his timeline seems to be dragging me along with her. So, she's here somewhere and is bound to add to whatever trouble you usually seem to find, love,” Rose explained.

“Oh. Well, then we'd best figure out this mystery with time jumping about,” Romana acknowledged and reached down to pick up the paper that had been thrown there earlier.

“Let's have a look, eh?” the Doctor said as he took the paper from her and flattened the rumpled sheet.

On the page, they saw a drawing of a cracked clock face wearing a hat just like Romana's.

“For a portrait of a Time Lady, that's not at all a bad likeness,” the Doctor commented and showed the image to Romana.

“That's extraordinary,” she responded.

“Yes, isn't it,” the Doctor said with a smile.

“Why in the world would he draw her like that?” Rose pondered.

“I wonder why he did it like that? The face of the clock is fractured,” Romana wondered thoughtfully.

“Ha. Almost like a crack in time. A crack in time...” the Doctor trailed off in thought.

“Let's all sit outside,” Romana suggested.


	10. City of Death: Part One

Chapter Ten – City of Death: Part One

 

“I think there's something the matter with time. Did either of you feel anything?” the Doctor asked them.

“Mmm, just a twinge. I didn't like it,” Romana replied.

“I'm not very good at sensing that kind of thing yet. And I was a little disoriented by my method of travel besides,” Rose told him.

“Yes, well. It must be because I've crossed the time fields so often. No one there seemed to notice anything. We exist in a special relationship to time, you know. Perpetual outsiders,” the Doctor mused.

“Don't be so portentous,” Romana chastised and Rose giggled. She decided then, that she really liked Romana.

“Hmm? What do you make of that, then?” the Doctor questioned, referring to the sketch.

“Well, at least on Gallifrey we can capture a good likeness. Computers can draw,” Romana replied haughtily.

“Computers? Why in the world would you want a computer drawing? You might as well just take a photograph,” Rose argued.

“You sit in Paris and talk of computer pictures? Listen, I'll take you somewhere and show you some real paintings painted by real people,” the Doctor told her and took Rose's hand as he stood up from the outdoor cafe table.

“What about the time slip?” Romana wondered.

“Never mind about the time slip. We're on holiday. Come on!” the Doctor said cheerily.

The trio dashed playfully through the streets, the Doctor never letting go of Rose's hand. Rose enjoyed the brief respite of sight seeing in Paris. For a long time, she had very negative memories about France, but that was a long time ago and her husbands had long since made up for those indiscretions.

“Should I signal my Doctors to remember where I am now?” Rose asked him.

~'This is going to sound a little odd, but with Romana here, it might be best to limit their involvement,'~ the Doctor thought to her discreetly.

Raising a curious eyebrow, Rose asked, ~'Why's that then?'~

~'Well, it's just a bit... awkward, perhaps? Humans don't know what is customary for Time Lord relationships, but Romana would be very aware of how unusual our relationship is compared to most marriages on Gallifrey,'~ the Doctor rambled, slightly flustered and she got the sense that there was more to it than he was saying.

~'Doctor, we are quite far from your time with me, so don't feel like I'm upset by the truth. I know that Romana is a very good friend to you. Do you fancy her? You never said that you did to me in the future, but you're in the middle of your travels with her,'~ Rose suggested, trying not to be jealous of their closeness.

~'Well, we aren't in a relationship or anything, but she is one of the only other Time Lords that has an understanding of my wanderlust, you might say,'~ he admitted.

~'And you're worried about what interactions might be like between her and your future selves?'~ she deducted.

~'A bit. Let's just hold back on contacting them for now, eh?'~ he replied hopefully.

“Alright,” she said aloud as they arrived at the museum.

“There we are, the Louvre. One of the greatest art galleries in the whole galaxy,” the Doctor announced happily as they walked through the hallway. “Have you ever been here before, Rose?”

“No, we've kind of been avoiding France,” Rose told him.

“The greatest in the galaxy? Nonsense! What about the Academia Stellaris on Sirius Five?” Romana asked.

“What? Oh no. No, no,” the Doctor disagreed.

“Or the Solariun Pinaquotheque at Strikian?” Romana suggested.

“Oh, no, no.”

“Or the Braxiatel Collection?” she added.

“Braxiatel? Like your brother, Braxiatel?” Rose inquired.

“Well, yes, he is a bit of a collector. But this is far superior. This is the only gallery in the known universe with a picture like the Mona Lisa,” the Doctor announced proudly as they arrived at the famous work.

“Oh, it's lovely,” Rose sighed. She hadn't seen the famous painting in person before.

“It's quite good,” Romana admitted begrudgingly.

“Quite good? That's one of the great treasures of the universe and you say quite good?” the Doctor asked her, clearly appalled by her frank dismissal.

“The world, Doctor, the world,” Romana corrected and hushed him so that people wouldn't stare.

“What are you talking about?” the Doctor's loud voice boomed.

“Not the universe in public, Doctor. It only calls attention,” Romana whispered and shushed him.

“Oh, don't worry about it, Romana. Humans would say that it was the best in the universe, and they have quite the knack for looking past those sorts of statements most of the time,” Rose assured her and leaned her head against the Doctor's shoulder while admiring the painting.

“Absolutely! Besides, let them gawp, let them gape. What do I care?” the Doctor agreed.

Rose noticed a man in a beige trench coat looking at them curiously nearby, and tried to watch him discreetly as he watched them.

“Why hasn't she got any eyebrows?” Romana asked about the Mona Lisa.

“What? Is that all you can say? No eyebrows? We're talking about the Mona Lisa. It's the Mona... Good heavens, you're right. She hasn't got any eyebrows. Do you know, I never noticed that before?” the Doctor admitted and closely reexamined the work.

Rose giggled at his antics and watched as a tour group was being led through the gallery. As she asked the Doctor to move along so that others could enjoy seeing the painting, there was another time slip and the world seemed to spin momentarily for the three aliens. The Doctor seemed the most affected and when the repeated moment was over, he stumbled to a nearby bench. Rose tried to support him, but this version of the Doctor was much too large for her to help carry his weight.

Despite Rose's help, he almost fell to the floor, when the man that Rose had noticed watching them earlier came to help. The Doctor crashed into him slightly before the man and Rose managed to move him to sit on the bench. He was breathing heavily as Rose checked him over.

“Alright, stand back. Stand back, everybody, stand back. Are you alright, sir?” the man asked him.

“Yes. I just dented my head on your gun, that's all,” the Doctor replied absentmindedly.

“What on Earth?” the man gasped.

“Oh, he'll be alright. Thank you for your help,” Rose said sweetly, taking note of the way he protectively covered the area where he was clearly concealing a gun.

“Don't take any notice of him. He's just having one of his funny turns,” Romana told the man dismissively.

“One of my funny turns? The whole world took a funny turn,” the Doctor argued.

“It's alright, love. Let's go get some fresh air. That ought to clear your head,” Rose responded and helped him back to his feet with Romana's help.

Once they were outside and away from the crowd, the Doctor's seeming disorientation disappeared completely. They walked briskly down the street, once they were outside. The Doctor kept hold of Rose's hand and Romana kept up with his long strides fairly easily.

~'Do you realize that man is following us?'~ Rose asked him silently.

~'Yes, of course. Let's see how long he'll keep that up,'~ he replied.

“I must say, I never imagined that the Doctor would get married again,” Romana commented during their walk.

“Neither did he,” Rose replied with a smirk. “I can't tell you how difficult it was to get him to admit his feelings for me.”

Romana looked at her with raised eyebrows and Rose realized that she may have said something wrong.

“Well, I don't know all the details, obviously, since it's in my future, Romana. But you must realize that any relationship that would have me bonding my life so completely, would be more than the usual Gallifreyan formalities,” the Doctor told his friend as he tried to cover up Rose's slip.

~'You realize that most Gallifreyan marriages have very little to do with love, yes?'~ the Doctor asked his wife silently.

~'I'm sorry. I forgot that you barely knew your first wife. The two of us were in denial for so long, both afraid to go any further, then suddenly you were proposing. Your mother said you weren't meant for the kind of marriage that most Time Lords are accustomed to,'~ she replied.

~'Quite right,'~ he agreed.

“I suppose. You've never been the typical Time Lord, have you, Doctor?” Romana said with a small smile.

“And Rose is definitely not a typical Time Lady, are you my dear?” the Doctor added with a huge toothy grin.

“That's probably the biggest understatement in the history of the universe,” Rose told them with a knowing gleam in her eyes.

They walked for quite some time, with the man still following them. Romana kept trying to ask about Rose's family on Gallifrey and her time at the academy. She and the Doctor deftly brushed aside her questions with vague responses and statements about future knowledge damaging the timelines. 

Finally, they reached the same café where Rose had first appeared in this time and the Doctor directed them to sit at one of the outside tables. A waiter handed each of them a menu.

“Merci,” the Doctor told the man before he went back inside.

“Doctor, you realize we're being followed?” Romana asked him.

“Of course he does,” Rose said as she looked over the choices.

“Yes, all the way from the Louvre by that idiot with the gun,” he replied.

“Well, what do you think he wants?” Romana wondered.

“Rose, check your pocket,” he said with a wink.

Rose reached into her pocket and pulled out a large bracelet. “What is it?” she asked.

Romana reached over the table to take a closer look at it.

“The woman I bumped into at the museum was wearing it,” the Doctor told them.

“And you stole it from her?” Romana gasped.

“What else is new?” Rose asked, shaking her head and earning herself a playful glare from the Doctor.

“Look at it, Romana. What is it?” the Doctor prompted.

“It's a micromeson scanner,” she said suddenly.

“That's right. She was using it to get a complete report on all the alarm systems around the Mona Lisa,” the Doctor told them.

“You mean she's trying to steal it?” Romana asked.

“It is a very pretty painting,” the Doctor replied.

“So all that tossing yourself about was just so that you could grab that thing? I almost hurt myself trying to keep you up. This you isn't as slim as in my time, thanks,” Rose told him.

“I'm terribly sorry, my dear. But it was the best option of distraction after the time slip,” the Doctor apologized and leaned close enough to give her a quick kiss.

“It's a very sophisticated device for a level five civilization,” Romana commented, ignoring their public display.

“Why in the world would you think it was human?” Rose asked her.

“That's never the product of Earth's civilization,” the Doctor added.

“Do you mean an alien's trying to steal the Mona Lisa?” Romana questioned disbelievingly.

“What else is new?” Rose sighed.

“Do you know, ladies, I think something very funny is going on,” the Doctor said calmly, though Rose could feel his worry rising. “You remember that man who was following us?”

“Yes?” Romana replied.

Rose saw him then, right behind the Doctor and he glared at her. Her eyes narrowed when she saw what he was doing.

“Well, he's standing behind me, poking a gun in my back,” the Doctor told Romana, who hadn't noticed him yet.

“Alright, you three. Into the café,” the man ordered.

They preceded the man into the café and headed back towards the table where the Doctor and Romana had been seated earlier.

“Patron, four glasses of water. Make them doubles,” the Doctor called to the waiter.

They were about to begin their conversation with their mysterious follower, when two men, dressed in black suits and fedoras approached their table. They immediately positioned themselves behind the Doctor and drew their guns.

“The bracelet. Now,” one of them demanded.

“What bracelet?” the Doctor questioned innocently, with his hands in the air.

The men dug their guns into the Doctor's back a little harder and he reached over to Romana, who handed him the bracelet. He gave the bracelet to the men behind him and they promptly left the café.

“Are you alright?” Romana asked him worriedly.

“Yes, I'm just relaxing and enjoying Paris,” the Doctor replied.

“Not the first time he's been held at gun point. In fact, that was the second time just today, and the first perpetrator is still with us,” Rose said as she glared at the man seated across from them accusingly.

“Alright, that's enough. Very cleverly staged, but you don't fool me,” the man responded.

“What are you talking about?” the Doctor demanded.

“Your men who were in here just now,” he answered.

“My men? Those thugs?” the Doctor gasped. 

“Your thugs,” the man argued.

“Are you suggesting those men were in my employ?” he questioned. “As if I would want anyone with a gun that close to my wife. What if there were an accident?” the Doctor added as he wrapped an arm around Rose's waist protectively.

“That's exactly what I'm saying,” their accuser replied.

“What possible reason would we have to stage something like that?” Rose asked him.

“You arranged for them to hold you up as a bluff. You're trying to put me on a false scent,” the man answered angrily.

“You're English, aren't you?” the Doctor questioned.

“Yes,” he replied warily, unsure of the nature of the non sequitur.

“Patron? I thought I ordered four glasses of water,” the Doctor called to the waiter nearby.

“Monsieur,” he acknowledged.

“Listen...” the man across from them began.

“Doctor,” he informed him and took a sip from one of the glasses that had arrived at the table.

“What's Scarlioni's angle?” the man inquired.

“Scarlioni's angle? Never heard of it. Have you ever heard of Scarlioni's angle, Romana?” the Doctor questioned.

“No, I was never any good at geometry,” she replied.

Rose rolled her eyes at them, “Who is Scarlioni?”

“Count Scarlioni,” he answered as if that should be obvious.

“What?” the Doctor asked as he stared back at the man with his large, piercing gaze.

“Everyone on Earth's heard of Count Scarlioni,” he insisted and looked between the three of them as if expecting them to suddenly realize what he was talking about.

“Ah, well, we've only just landed on Earth,” the Doctor replied, as if that should be the most reasonable explanation imaginable.

“Right, fine, that's it. I give up! You're crazy!” he shouted and got up from the table.

“Crazy enough to want to steal the Mona Lisa?” the Doctor called after him.

The man froze in his tracks and Rose smirked. The Doctor was so good at controlling any situation he found himself in. When he returned to the table, the Doctor amended his statement, “Or at least be interested in someone who might want to steal the Mona Lisa?”

The man sat back down and sipped the glass of water they placed in front of him. He introduced himself as Duggan. He was a detective trying to find what was going on with a man called Scarlioni.

“Masterpieces that have apparently been missing over the centuries are just turning up all over the place,” Duggan told them.

“All fakes, of course,” the Doctor deduced.

“They've got to be, haven't they? Haven't they?” he insisted.

“Are they?” Romana questioned.

“They're very, very good ones. They stand up to every scientific test,” Duggan answered.

“Could it be a rogue Time Agent, trying to scam everyone?” Rose suggested.

They all looked at her in shock. The two Time Lords contemplated the possibility, while Duggan was just confused by the statement.

“Nah, they'd be more careful than that,” Rose dismissed the idea herself.

“Probably. But the only connection in this is the Count?” the Doctor asked.

“Yes.”

“So?” he prompted.

“Nothing dirty can be proved, though. He's clean. Absolutely clean. So clean he stinks,” Duggan told them.

“He isn't clean anymore. The Countess has the bracelet,” the Doctor replied.

“What's that bracelet worth?” Duggan asked.

Rose couldn't contain a laugh at that. Imagining them trying to auction off alien technology in 1970's Paris.

“Well, it depends on what you want to do with it. Uh oh,” the Doctor responded.

“What?” the detective asked as two more men in black arrived behind him.

“I think we're being invited to leave,” the Doctor told him, gripping Rose's hand tightly.

“Captured already? I hope they have a nice dungeon this time,” Rose commented nonchalantly.


	11. City of Death: Part Two

Chapter 11 – City of Death: Part Two

 

The Doctor, Rose, Romana and Duggan were escorted at gunpoint to Scarlioni's residence. Upon being led to the room where the Countess was waiting, the butler, whom they had heard referred to as Hermann, shoved the Doctor into the room. He fell rather ungracefully, but very dramatically onto the floor. Rose immediately moved to help her husband up and the others followed them into the room.

“I say, what a wonderful butler. He's so violent. Hello, I'm call the Doctor. This is my wife, Rose. That's Romana and that's Duggan. You must be the Countess Scarlioni and this is clearly a delightful Louis Quinze chair. May I sit in it? I say, haven't they worn well? Rose, why don't you take the other one, my dear, they're terribly comfortable. Thank you, Hermann, that'll be all,” the Doctor babbled as he assessed the Countess and the room.

“Doctor, you're being very pleasant with me,” the Countess stated haughtily as she puffed on a cigarette in a long, black holder.

“Well, I'm a very pleasant fellow. Wouldn't you say, Rose?” the Doctor responded and Rose gave him a knowing smile. 

“But I didn't invite you here for social reasons,” the Countess continued.

“Yes, I could see that the moment you didn't invite me to have a drink. Well, I will have a drink now you come to mention it. Yes, do come in everybody,” the Doctor rambled again as he got up to pour himself a glass from the bottle nearby. “Romana, sit down over there. Duggan, you can sit next to her. Oh, alright. Now, isn't this nice?” he added and sat back in the antique chair next to Rose.

“The only reason you were brought here was to explain exactly why you stole my bracelet,” the Countess told him from where she leaned against the fireplace mantel.

“Ah. Well, it's my job, you see. I'm a thief. My wife Rose and our friend Romana are my accomplices. And this is Duggan. He's the detective who's been kind enough to catch me. That's his job. You see, our two lines of work dovetail beautifully,” the Doctor explained in detail.

“Very interesting,” she replied, clearly not believing a word of it.

“Yes,” the Doctor agreed.

“I was rather under the impression that Mister Duggan was following me,” the Countess accused as she squinted threateningly at the detective.

Duggan shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, but said nothing to contradict the Doctor's story.

“Ah. Well, you're a beautiful woman, probably, and Duggan was trying to summon up the courage to ask you out to dinner, weren't you, Duggan?” the Doctor suggested.

“Who sent you?” the Countess demanded of the Doctor.

“Who sent me what?” he replied, playing his usual buffoon act to keep people from suspecting what he might really know.

“Doctor, the more you try to convince me that you're a fool, the more I'm likely to think otherwise. Now, it would only be the work of a moment to have you killed,” the woman informed him.

“Well, that certainly won't get you any answers,” Rose mumbled angrily.

Romana picked up a decorative box from the coffee table in front of her and examined it curiously.

“Put it down,” the Countess demanded.

“It's one of those puzzle boxes isn't it?” Romana asked her as she continued to inspect each side, ignoring the threatening tone of the Countess.

“Yes, it's a very rare and precious Chinese puzzle box. You won't be able to open it so put it down,” she announced, her feelings of superiority quite clear.

Romana kept her expression surprisingly blank as she easily flipped the puzzle box open and revealed the infamous bracelet from inside. “Oh look,” she said with a smug grin.

Count Scarlioni had entered the room and commented, “Yes. Very pretty, isn't it?”

“Very. Where's it from?” Romana asked him pointedly.

“From? It's not from anywhere. It's mine,” the Count told her, avoiding the question as he took the bracelet from her and joined the Countess by the fireplace.

“My dear, these are the people who stole it from me at the Louvre,” she purred at him.

“Hello there,” the Doctor said in greeting and Rose waved.

“How very curious. Three thieves enter the Louvre Gallery and come out with a bracelet. Couldn't you think of anything more interesting to steal?” Count Scarlioni asked.

“Well, I just thought it was awfully pretty and a terribly unusual design. Of course, it would have been much nicer to have stolen one of the pictures, but I've tried that before and all sorts of alarms go off, which disturbs the concentration,” the Doctor replied, still playing the fool.

“Yes, it would. So you stole the bracelet simply because it's pretty?” he questioned to confirm the Doctor's claim.

“Of course, there's all those security guards watching the pictures. We get much better results picking the pockets of the people wandering about,” Rose added, confidently joining the charade.

“Yes, I think it's very pretty. Don't you? I thought my wife might like it,” the Doctor told them. He winked and added in a stage whisper, “Her birthday's coming up.”

“My dear, I don't think he's as stupid as he seems,” the Countess stated as she continued to watch the Doctor grinning at them like an idiot.

“My dear, nobody could be as stupid as he seems,” Scarlioni agreed.

“Oh,” the Doctor said with a frown.

“The interview is at an end,” the Count announced.

“Good. Well, we'll be off. A quick stagger up the Champs Elysees, perhaps a bite at Maxims. Would you like that, Rose?” the Doctor babbled happily as he stood to leave and the others followed suit.

“I think a rather better idea would be if Hermann were to lock you into the cellar. I should hate to lose contact with such fascinating people,” Scarlioni informed them as the butler returned, gun in hand.

Duggan chose that moment to try and be a hero by picking up one of the chairs to strike the Count. The Doctor stopped him with a shout, “Duggan, what are you doing? For heaven's sake, that's a Louis Quinze.” 

“But you're not going to let them lock us up!” Duggan protested.

“Just behave like a civilized guest. I do beg your pardon, Count,” the Doctor apologized.

“Thank you,” the Count replied, slightly confused by the Doctor's behaviour.

“Now, Hermann, if you'd just be kind enough to show us to our cellar, we'd be terribly grateful. Do come along, my good chap,” the Doctor prompted as he took Rose's arm and allowed the butler to lead them to captivity at gunpoint once again.

As they were walking, the Doctor tried to pry as much information as he could out of the butler. “How long's the Chateau been here, Hermann?”

“Long enough,” he replied curtly as he ushered them down the wooden staircase.

“Really, that long? Restored four or five hundred years ago?” the Doctor questioned.

“May have been.”

“Very stimulating, very stimulating. And this would be the cellar, would it?” the Doctor rambled sarcastically.

“Doctor, your boring conversation does not interest me,” the butler grumbled.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, the Doctor noticed a large room that was being used as a laboratory of some sort. There was some very sophisticated equipment running and he immediately moved to investigate. “Really. Good Lord, a laboratory. Are you locking us into a laboratory?” he babbled before being pulled out of the room and into a dark storage room with a heavy wooden door.

“In here,” Hermann instructed roughly.

“Oh, I'd much rather stay out there, it looks so much more interesting,” the Doctor protested.

They were given a small lantern and a single match to light it. As soon as the door was bolted, Duggan began to argue, “What do you think you're playing at? We could have escaped at least twice if you hadn't...”

“Exactly, exactly. What's the point of coming all the way here just to escape immediately? What we do is, we stay here,” the Doctor explained.

“Yes?” Duggan wondered what good that would do.

“Let them think they've got us safe,” he continued.

“Yes?”

“Then we escape. Light the lamp. Come on,” the Doctor concluded as he took his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and started working on the door. It wasn't working however, so Rose produced hers instead.

“Allow me,” Rose told him and settled herself snugly in front of him to work on the lock. It opened quickly and they were ready to go back to exploring the laboratory.

“Doctor?” Romana called.

“Yes?” he acknowledged.

“The horizontal length of the stairs is about six metres, isn't it?” Romana calculated.

“Yes, I suppose so. Why?” he asked curiously.

“Well, this room runs alongside the stairs, and it's only two point three metres in length,” Romana explained.

“That's fascinating. Shall we look at the lab first?” the Doctor suggested as he opened the door.

“Right, let's get out of here!” Duggan exclaimed but was quickly held back by both the Doctor and Rose grabbing his arms.

“What kind of detective are you? You're bound to get caught on your way out of here. Not to mention, you haven't done any detecting whatsoever! The only way we're going to figure out what Scarlioni is up to, is to search the place,” Rose chastised him.

“Exactly. Let's get a look at the lab first,” the Doctor agreed.

“What use is looking at the lab?” Duggan protested.

“In the last few hours, I've been thumped, threatened, abducted and imprisoned. I've found a piece of equipment which is not of Earth technology and I've been through two time slips. I think this lab might have something to do with it,” the Doctor told him harshly.

“Cut that stuff out, will you? What about the Mona Lisa?” Duggan argued.

“What about it?” the Doctor wondered.

“Do you reckon the Count and Countess are out to steal it?” Duggan asked as Romana walked from the lab back to their little storage room with some equipment.

“Yes,” the Doctor admitted.

“I don't know about you, but I'm going to stop them,” the detective insisted.

“Duggan, look, it's five in the afternoon. The Louvre is filled with people as well as security guards. Don't you think it would be better if you tried to discover how they planned to steal it and how they planned to sell or make use of it afterward instead? Or are you just here to thump people?” Rose tried to reason with the ridiculous man who didn't seem to understand the detecting part of being a detective.

“Oh, Rose, you are magnificent when you're logical,” the Doctor sighed. Rose gave him a beaming smile in response.

“Now, what do you think Romana's up to?” the Doctor said as he shook himself out of his reverie.

“I don't know,” Duggan grumbled.

“Nor do I. Looks intriguing, don't you think?” the Doctor asked brightly.

“I don't care. I'm going,” he told them and started heading for the stairs just as the door at the top opened.

They all ducked back out of sight and watched as a strange little man wearing dark rimmed glasses and a white lab coat started to examine some things in the laboratory. He took an egg from an incubator and placed it on the platform in the middle of some kind of machine. He moved back to the controls and the Doctor had to pull Duggan back from clobbering the scientist before they could see what he was doing.

Rose shook her head at the idiot that she had decided was more a grunt than a detective. They watched quietly as the machine created some sort of time bubble which made the egg hatch and grow to an adult chicken in less than a minute.

The Doctor walked up behind the scientist and asked in his ear, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”

“Who are you?” the man asked in shock that he wasn't alone.

“Me?” the Doctor questioned.

“Yes, who are you? What are you doing here?”

“I'm the Doctor. That's Rose. And what you're doing is terribly interesting, but you've got it wrong,” he told the scientist assuredly.

“Wrong? What are you talking about?” the man protested.

“Well, you're tinkering with time. That's always a bad idea unless you know what you're doing,” the Doctor told him.

“I know what I'm doing. I am the foremost authority on temporal theory in the whole world,” the scientist announced proudly.

Rose snickered a bit as she watched the chicken in the bubble grow older still.

“The whole world?” the Doctor asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, that's a very small place when you consider the size of the universe,” the Doctor informed him.

“Ah, but who can?” the scientist argued, not realizing who he was talking to.

“Oh, some can. And if you can't, you shouldn't tinker with time,” the Doctor stated clearly.

“But you saw it work. The greatest achievement of the human race. A cellular accelerator. You saw it! An egg developed into a chicken in thirty seconds. With a large one, I can turn a calf into a cow in even less time. It will be the end of famine in the world,” the scientist argued.

“It'll be the end of you, if you're not careful, never mind the cow. Look,” the Doctor prompted as they watched the chicken turn to a skeleton and collapse in front of them.

“Well, there are a few technical problems,” the scientist admitted.

“Seriously? And you think a dingy basement is the best place for this kind of dangerous work?” Rose protested.

“A few technical problems? No, no, no. The whole principle you're working on is wrong. You can stretch time backwards or forwards within that bubble, but you can't break into it or out of it. It's true you have created a different time continuum, but it's totally incompatible with ours,” the Doctor explained.

“Ah... I don't know what you mean,” the scientist admitted weakly.

The Doctor and the scientist, who identified himself as Theodore Kerensky, argued a bit more about the machine until Duggan struck the poor man and knocked him unconscious. The Doctor was very cross with him and after assuring that the man would be alright, told Duggan firmly, “If you do that one more time, Duggan, I'm going to take very, very severe measures.”

“Yeah? Like what?” the detective challenged.

“I'm going to ask you not to,” he replied and Rose had to stifle her giggle.

It was at that point that Romana called them back into the storage room where she had discovered another room that had been bricked up and sealed for centuries. As they chipped away at the mortar between the bricks, they tried postulating theories about what might be going on.

“Why do you suppose the Count's got all this equipment, Doctor?” Romana asked.

“He seems to be financing some dangerous experiment with time. The professor, of course, thinks he's breeding chickens,” the Doctor told them.

“Stealing the Mona Lisa to pay for chickens?” Duggan asked incredulously.

“Obviously the chickens are just the way he's testing the machines. He's not about to use it on himself or whatever his intended target is before he's sure it's ready,” Rose argued.

“Yes, but even so, who'd want to buy the Mona Lisa? You can hardly show it if it's known to be stolen,” Romana pointed out.

“There are at least seven people in my address book who'd pay millions for that picture for their private collection,” Duggan informed them.

“But no one could even know they'd got it,” Romana protested.

“It would be an expensive gloat, but they'd buy it,” Duggan told them.

“This is taking too long,” Rose grumbled, pulled out her sonic and switched it on.

She almost giggled at the thought that now she was the one trying to resonate concrete. The loose mortar, however, did crumble under the vibrations and the bricks shifted slightly. Together, they were able to pull the rest of the loosened blocks out of the way and entered the small room beyond. It was dark and musty from being sealed for so long. Duggan entered the room with the lantern and revealed six wooden cupboards against the wall.

Opening them revealed six paintings of the Mona Lisa.

“They must be fakes,” Duggan protested.

“The brushwork's Leonardo's,” the Doctor informed him.

“How can you tell?” the detective wondered.

“It's as characteristic as a signature. The pigment, too.”

“On all of them?” Duggan asked.

“Every one. What I don't understand is why a man who's got six Mona Lisas wants to go to all the trouble of stealing a seventh,” the Doctor pondered.

“Come on, Doctor, I've just told you. There are seven people who would buy the Mona Lisa in secret, but nobody's going to buy the Mona Lisa when it's hanging in the Louvre!” Duggan exclaimed.

“Of course. They'd each have to think they were buying the stolen one,” Romana realized.

“Right,” Duggan agreed.

“I wouldn't make a very good criminal, would I?” the Doctor concluded.

“No. Good criminals don't get caught. I see you've found some of my pictures. Rather good, aren't they? By the end of this evening, I shall have a seventh,” Count Scarlioni announced from the entrance to the secret room, holding a gun in their direction.

The Count, of course, wouldn't reveal where he got the paintings or how he knew they were there since they had been sealed in that room for centuries. The Doctor tried to get some information about his plans from him, but Duggan decided it was a good idea to thump yet another person and knocked him unconscious as well.

“Why is it that every time I start to talk to someone, you knock him unconscious?” the Doctor chastised.

“I didn't expect him to go down that easy,” he protested.

“Well, if you don't understand heads, you shouldn't go about hitting them,” the Doctor argued.

“Well, what else would you suggest?” he asked impatiently.

They managed to escape from the house, leaving Kerensky and both the Count and Countess unconscious in their wake.

“Come on, we've got to get to the Louvre,” Duggan told them.

“No, you have. Romana, Rose, you look after him,” the Doctor instructed.

“If you think I'm letting you out of my sight, Doctor, you're wrong. I'm here because Missy is out to kill you and I intend to keep that from happening at all costs,” Rose informed him in no uncertain terms.

“Fine. Romana, you go with him. Rose and I have got to go meet an Italian. Middle-aged Italian. In fact, late middle-aged. Renaissance. Come on,” he acknowledged and the two teams split up.

The Doctor and Rose made their way back to the TARDIS.

“So, you've met Da Vinci?” Rose asked him.

“Of course! Why wouldn't I? Brilliant man like him,” the Doctor told her proudly.

“And will he recognize you or was it with a different face?” Rose teased.

“Oh, it was this one. Lovely chap. Perhaps we could have him paint a portrait of you? That would be smashing, wouldn't it?” he asked with a goofy grin.

“I suppose. Still miss what I used to look like. I got used to the idea of you changing, but it still feels strange for me,” Rose admitted.

“Well, I could see it being a bit disconcerting for you. Being raised as a human and all that. Romana spent forever trying to decide on her new appearance when she regenerated,” the Doctor informed her.

“Deciding? You told me it was random,” Rose protested.

“I've certainly never bothered to try and control it. It's not an easy thing to do, but Romana took the appearance of someone we met in our travels,” he told her.

Several ideas started spinning through Rose's mind with that information. First wondering if her pinstriped Doctor had intentionally become slightly younger and prettier when he regenerated in front of her. Then she contemplated whether she might be able to control her own regeneration the next time to go back to how she was used to looking.

They entered the TARDIS with the Doctor shouting, “Hello, K9. You alright?”

“Affirmative, Master,” the little robot dog told him.

“Oh, K9! This is an earlier one than the one I saw before,” Rose said as she knelt down and patted the dog's head.

“Did I make another one?” the Doctor wondered.

“Well, I guess so. Sarah Jane had one when we met her,” Rose told him.

“What? Did I travel with her again?” he asked curiously.

“No. I think you sent it to her as a present or something. When we met her, I invited her to come along, but she said she was too old for that kind of thing anymore. She came to the wedding though,” Rose explained.

The Doctor flew the TARDIS back in time to 1505, so that they could find out what was happening with Leonardo and the extra versions of the Mona Lisa. They exited the time ship to find themselves in what appeared to be Leonardo's home.

“Leonardo? Leonardo? Ah, that Renaissance sunshine. Isn't it lovely, Rose?” the Doctor asked as they stood by the window.

“Do you really think that the sunshine is that different in this time period?” she asked him.

“Well, it isn't hindered by all the air pollution of the twenty-first century. Leonardo? The paintings went down very well. Everybody loved them. Last Supper, Mona Lisa. You remember the Mona Lisa? That dreadful woman with no eyebrows who wouldn't sit still, eh?” he called out, hoping to get the attention of the artist wherever he might be.

“I don't think he's here, love,” Rose told him as she examined the helicopter sketches on one of the tables.

It was then, that Rose felt the tip of a sword pressing threateningly into her back. When she looked up, she saw fury in the Doctor's eyes aimed at whomever was behind her.

“Who are you and what are you two doing here?” the soldier demanded.

The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her next to him so that they were both facing the soldier and he wasn't an immediate danger to Rose's life. “Ah, well, we just dropped by to see Leonardo, actually. Is he about?” the Doctor asked, trying to act as casual as possible.

“Nobody's allowed to see Leonardo,” the soldier informed them.

“Really?” the Doctor questioned.

“He's engaged on important work for Captain Tancredi,” he explained.

“Captain Tancredi?” the Doctor asked.

“Do you know him?” the soldier queried in response.

“No,” he admitted.

“He'll want to question you.”

“Well, we'll want to question him, so we can all have a little chat, can't we?” the Doctor replied happily.

“He'll be here instantly,” the soldier announced just as the door to the house burst open.

They recognized the man instantly as Count Scarlioni and went on immediate alert. He was wearing clothes to suit this time period and his hair was longer, but it was clearly the same man.

“You? What are you doing here?” the Doctor demanded as he clutched Rose's hand even more tightly than before.

“I think that is exactly the question I ought to be asking you, Doctor,” the man that the soldier had called Captain Tancredi replied. 

~'Should I contact my Doctor's now? We might be in a bit of trouble,'~ Rose thought to the Doctor worriedly.

~'Not just yet. Let's see what he's up to,'~ came his reply.


	12. City of Death: Part Three

Chapter Twelve – City of Death: Part Three

 

With a gesture, Captain Tancredi let them know that he wanted them to sit in the chairs while he questioned them. The Doctor and Rose obliged as they put on an air of casual conversation. This version of the Doctor seemed to try and put his opponents off of their game by playing the ignorant buffoon, but Rose could see the fire in his eyes when he was provoked.

“Doctor, will you explain to me exactly how you and your lovely wife can be in Paris 1979 and Florence 1505?” he asked as he stood before them menacingly.

The Doctor considered his answer for a moment, but Tancredi had no patience for delays.

“I am waiting, Doctor,” he insisted.

“Well, we do flit about a bit, you know,” the Doctor replied evasively.

“Through time?” he asked pointedly.

“Yes, I suppose so,” the Doctor answered.

“How precisely?” 

“I don't know. There we are just walking along, minding our own business and pop! We're on a different planet or even a different time. But enough of our problems. What are you doing here?” the Doctor responded.

“I will tell you. The knowledge will be of little use to you, since you will shortly die. I am the last of the Jagaroth. I am also the saviour of the Jagaroth,” Tancredi told them.

“Sounds like you've done a lousy job saving them if you're the last one,” Rose snarked, earning herself a glare from their captor.

“Jagaroth?” the Doctor asked thoughtfully.

“You've heard of us,” Tancredi deduced.

“Jagaroth. I think it was on one of my trips. Yes, you all destroyed yourselves in some massive war. Wait, when?” the Doctor pondered.

~'I think it might be best to inform my future selves about where you are, darling. The Jagaroth were brutal,'~ he thought to Rose discreetly.

Rose took a moment then to send the signal to her husbands that would release their memories of these events. They still hadn't seen any signs of Missy, but knew that she was bound to turn up sometime.

“Four hundred million years, I think is the figure you're looking for,” Tancredi told him as he sat in the chair across from them.

“Is it really? How time passes. So, what are you doing here?” the Doctor asked.

“Surviving. The prime motive of all species. We were not all destroyed. A few of us escaped in a crippled spacecraft and made planetfall in this world in its primeval time. We found it uninhabitable,” he explained.

“Yes, well, four hundred million years ago it would have been a bit of a shambles. No life to tidy it up. No life...” the Doctor trailed off in thought.

“We tried to leave but the ship disintegrated. I was fractured. Splinters of my being are scattered in time. All identical, none complete. I am not satisfied with your explanation. How do you travel through time?” Tancredi insisted and looked thoughtfully at Rose for a moment.

Rose shifted uneasily under his scrutiny. It was clear that he was planning to use her against the Doctor in some way. She wasn't sure where or when her husbands would choose to intervene in this adventure, but hoped that they would manage to get out of here in one piece.

“Well, as I was saying...” the Doctor began.

“What is that box?” their captor interrupted.

“What box?” the Doctor feigned ignorance.

“That box,” Tancredi said, indicating the TARDIS that was behind him only slightly concealed by a curtain.

“That box? I don't know. I've never seen that box in my life. Ah!” the Doctor told him and tried to redirect the conversation by drawing attention to the Mona Lisa that was displayed nearby. “The original, I presume? Completed in 1503 and it's now what, 1505, and you're getting the old boy to do you another six, yes? Which you then brick up in a cellar in Paris for Scarlioni to find in four hundred and seventy four years. That's a very nice piece of capital investment.”

“I should say so,” Rose agreed.

“I can see that you are a dangerously clever man, Doctor. I think it's time we conducted this conversation somewhat more formally,” Tancredi announced with a calculating look. “Hold them here while I collect the instruments of torture. If he wags his tongue, confiscate it,” he told the soldier who glared at the couple dangerously.

“How can I talk if you confiscate my...” the Doctor protested.

“You can write, can't you?” Tancredi interrupted just before leaving the residence with a swirl of the cape over his shoulders.

They sat for a moment as they considered what to do about the soldier guarding them.

~'Perhaps a bit of distraction is in order?'~ Rose suggested.

~'You have something in mind?'~ the Doctor wondered.

~'I'll distract him, you find a way to knock him out,'~ she replied.

Rose stood up from her chair and approached their guard with a significant sway to her hips. Both the soldier and the Doctor gulped audibly at the gesture.

“Now, what is a brave, intelligent young man like you, taking orders from a lunatic like him for? Space ships and aliens?” Rose asked him as she leaned in closely with a seductive grin.

“I'm paid simply to fight,” the man replied, somewhat flustered.

“Oh, but really? You're a smart boy, aren't you?” she said and put her arms around his shoulders to turn him away from the Doctor. She needed to give him the opportunity to act without scrutiny.

“Well, I... I uh...” he stuttered. He was clearly unsure what to make of her advances and proximity.

“That's enough of that,” the Doctor announced as he smashed a piece of crockery over the soldier's head.

“Ugh. When did they invent toothpaste?” Rose cringed once the man was unconscious on the floor.

“Hmm. Let's just save those kinds of distractions for me, eh?” the Doctor told her. He grasped her around the waist and pulled her into a fierce kiss, staking his claim as his jealousy abated.

“I'll keep that in mind,” she said breathlessly when he released her.

The Doctor set her to work with a marker, writing 'this is a fake' on the blank canvasses on the desk. He quickly wrote a note for Leonardo in mirrored writing, asking him to just paint over the marks. They finished their work at just the same time and began to walk towards the TARDIS.

“Just about to pop off through time again, Doctor? How very discourteous when I'd gone to all the trouble of fetching the thumbscrews,” Tancredi called to them loudly.

The soldier had regained consciousness and was glaring at them from his employer's side, his sword at the ready. They were very worried about the torture that the man might inflict, when another TARDIS suddenly started materializing around them.

“Guess you won't have much use for them after all,” Rose called out before the time ship materialized completely.

Almost instantly, the ship began to dematerialize again and move them back into the vortex. Alex was immediately pulling his wife into a spinning hug. “Oh, my Rose! I've missed you,” he said and punctuated it with a passionate snog.

“What's the big idea telling her not to let us know where she was?” Evander growled at the past Doctor.

“Look, you know as well as I do that Romana will never understand the relationship that the three of you have,” the Doctor argued.

“And why not?” Alex retorted indignantly.

“What do we care about it anyway? It doesn't matter what she thinks of it. She'll probably have to forget all of this,” Evander told him.

“Why should she have to forget? This is about my future, not hers. And besides, you never insisted on my other companions forgetting before,” the Doctor replied angrily.

“Because Missy is likely to tell her something about Gallifrey's future,” Rose responded, interrupting the Doctor arguing with himself. “And she can't know about it. It's vital, Doctor, that she doesn't know about what's coming. You've heard all of us talking about a war in your future. It has to happen and if she remembers, it will cause a paradox. You know Missy won't avoid the opportunity to tell her about something like that.”

“Fine. Thank you for the timely rescue,” the past Doctor grumbled to Alex and Evander as he paced. “We'll have to go back for my TARDIS later, you realize?”

“Yes. We can take care of that later. It's not like Tancredi could get inside anyway and Leonardo certainly wouldn't do any harm,” Evander replied and took his own turn kissing his wife.

“Alright, we can't just hang here in the vortex forever. We got you out of there before he found out about Romana's knowledge of time travel. The way we remember it, she built a field interface stabilizer for Scarlioni. He didn't learn about her knowledge from you, which means that he either deduces it on his own or someone else is helping him,” Alex rambled as he tried to work out their next step.

“So, Missy is probably helping him. Or at least letting him think that she's helping him, but really, just waiting for you to show up and save the day,” Rose reasoned.

“Most likely. Although, she wouldn't be terribly upset by the paradox that Scarlioni would cause with his little trip back in time. The radiation from the destruction of his ship is what sparked life from the primordial ooze. If he prevents that explosion, life will never have evolved on Earth at all,” Evander explained as he worked out coordinates for their landing.

“We need a plan. Preferably something that won't have us walking straight into Missy's hands this time. As much as I don't like it, it would probably be safest if we split up. We can keep each other informed of what's going on telepathically,” Alex told them.

“I agree. Now, Scarlioni knows nothing of the two of you, nor does Romana. It would be best, therefore, if Rose and I are the ones to go back to the chateau to rescue Romana and Duggan,” the scarf-wearing Doctor insisted.

“Why does Rose go with you?” Alex whined.

“Because I'm going to protect your past from Missy, Doctor, whether you like it or not,” Rose answered forcefully. She approached Alex and stroked her hands up and down his lapels in an effort to calm him down. It was clear that he didn't want to let her out of his sight, but she couldn't allow Missy to destroy everything. “Trust me, please,” she told him as she looked into his beautiful, chocolate eyes.

“Yeah,” he whispered and nuzzled her hair.

“I'm landing us near the chateau. No sense in running all over Paris when we know where we need to be. Alex and I will wait here in the TARDIS. If you need us to go somewhere, just let us know,” Evander told them curtly. He didn't seem any happier with the idea of not being there, but knew that this was likely, the safer way to go. They had tried facing Missy head on before and it didn't work. This was their third time following Rose into this and they needed to change tactics.

Rose and the fourth Doctor exited the TARDIS and made their way back to Scarlioni's chateau. They knew that they would likely be faced with Romana and Duggan having been captured as well as Missy taking control of the situation. So, they tried to approach this as carefully as possible. Of course, that was easier said than done with someone who seemed to have his own private army. They were swiftly escorted at gun point, yet again, down to the cellar.

“So nice of you to join us,” Missy sneered at them.

They could see Romana and Duggan had been returned to the locked storage room. Scarlioni stood behind Missy and seemed quite irritated by all of this. He dismissed the man that had escorted them downstairs and glared at the Doctor angrily.

“How did you leave in that box and yet still leave it there in 1505?” Scarlioni demanded to know.

“Well, my lovely wife simply called for a taxi. Didn't you, my dear?” the Doctor responded and smiled at Rose.

“Yes, well, the entire reason that I'm here is to protect him. I couldn't very well allow you to torture him, could I?” Rose told them as she returned Missy's glare.

“Well, it was to be expected. Did they not join you on your little rescue mission? We could have a reunion. I do love having so many Doctors around to torment,” Missy interrupted.

Rose and the Doctor didn't answer her. It was obvious that Alex and Evander hadn't come with them, so there was no point in explaining to her.

“No matter. I've had a bit of a change of heart. You might be happy to know that I've decided not to cause a universe shattering paradox,” Missy informed them.

“Oh? How very comforting. I don't suppose that means that you'll just allow Rose and her husbands to go about their business then?” the Doctor wondered doubtfully.

“Of course not. What a waste of a wonderful opportunity that would be. No, I've simply decided that I can adapt this lovely technology here to create a temporal buffer. It would allow me to shift the timelines and simply create a new reality. One where I can destroy you in the past without affecting the universe where I will continue to exist. In this new timeline, I can prevent the destruction of Gallifrey and take over everything. Those idiots in the Panopticon won't know what hit them when I come on the scene,” Missy explained her new plan smugly.

“You can't just take over my equipment!” Scarlioni argued as he approached Missy.

She turned towards him with a grin and told him, “Say something nice.”

“What? You're insane,” he replied angrily.

“Yup,” she answered and fired an energy weapon. Scarlioni vaporized instantly and the Doctor's hand tightened on Rose's. “Now, don't you worry, Doctor. I won't kill you just yet. I have some equipment to prepare first. In the meantime, I think we'll have to contain the two of you, though I don't think it would be wise to put you back with Romana. She certainly wasn't a slouch at the Academy and I don't want her helping you.”

Missy walked them upstairs and ordered one of Scarlioni's guards to lock them in the closet and make sure that they didn't escape. 

“Alright, no windows or duct work and a guard right outside the door. Any suggestions, Doctor?” Rose asked him. She wasn't worried about being locked up, that was almost a daily occurrence for them.

Rather than answer her, the Doctor wrapped his arms around her waist tightly and pressed her against the wall. His lips were on her mouth in an instant and Rose couldn't suppress a moan as his tongue delved deeply into her mouth.

~'We really ought to be finding a way out of here, love,'~ Rose thought to him rather than breaking the kiss.

~'Later. It'll take Missy quite some time to construct what she has in mind and I'm not about to waste the privacy of this closet while I have the chance,'~ he responded and sent a wave of lust through their bond.

Rose groaned her approval and suddenly remembered some of the wicked thoughts she'd had when Alex had first told her about this past incarnation. She surprised him greatly when she suddenly spun them around so that his back was against the wall. Rose threaded her fingers with his and brought both of his hands behind his back as she sucked on his neck. He hummed his approval of the action and Rose used his momentary distraction to wrap his scarf around his wrists, tying a quick knot to hold them there.

“Rose, what..?” he asked and gasped when she suddenly sank to her knees in front of him and unfastened his trousers.

“Hush now, love. I've had plans for that scarf. You'll have to keep quiet or that guard is likely to come in here,” Rose told him as she lowered his trousers and pants, holding his hips back against the wall. 

She wrapped her hand around him and took the tip into her mouth. She felt him shudder as he tried to keep from shouting. The Doctor was breathing heavily and tried to pull his hands free of the scarf where she had restrained him. She felt his confusion regarding it and simply told him, ~'Trust me. There is an added excitement to the lack of control.'~

He nodded and watched as she took him deeply into her mouth. He couldn't help but grunt softly as he rocked his hips in time with her rhythm. “Ah! Oh, Rose!” he called out, trying to keep his voice down as he came into her mouth. 

She swallowed him down, happily and grinned up at him when he collapsed back against the wall. Rose replaced his clothing, then moved to release his hands. As soon as he was free, he grasped her upper arms firmly and spun her back against the wall again, pinning her with a fierce kiss.

~'There will be retribution for that. This scarf will tie more than just your hands, you glorious, wanton creature,'~ the Doctor thought to her and sent her mental images of just what he'd like to do with her and the scarf and absolutely no other clothing whatsoever.

They spent quite some time snogging happily in their closet before the Doctor decided, ~'I suppose we should tell the others that we could use a rescue.'~

~'They can't materialize the TARDIS in here, it's too small,'~ Rose replied.

~'Yes, and we still need to destroy what Missy is working on as well as rescuing Romana and Duggan,'~ he acknowledged.

~'Fine. But I'm just telling them, not releasing their memories of our closet time, or they're likely to come storming in here in a rage of jealousy,'~ Rose pouted and released their kiss with a sigh. She loved the Doctor. Any and every version of her husband.

Rose opened up her link with Alex and Evander, ~'We seem to be slightly trapped at the moment, boys. Missy killed Scarlioni and is currently building some kind of time buffer or something, I think she called it? We're locked in a closet upstairs. Romana and Duggan are locked up downstairs where Missy is working on adapting Scarlioni's equipment.'~

~'Alright, we'll figure out some kind of rescue, darling,'~ Evander replied with a sigh.

They waited for quite some time in the dark closet for their rescue to come. It was almost an hour after she had contacted her husbands before they heard the sound of the guard outside being knocked unconscious. They were slightly surprised when the door was opened to reveal Romana and Duggan, instead of Alex and Evander.

“Where are they?” Rose asked worriedly.

“Downstairs. They sent us to come and release you while they dealt with the Mistress,” Romana explained.

Everyone was taken by surprise yet again when Rose disappeared before their eyes. 

“Oh, not again,” the Doctor groaned.

************************************

In the cellar of the chateau, Alex gaped at the spot where Missy had been standing a moment before. They had failed to stop her from escaping again. And this time, they had a whole mess of clean up to do. Evander was destroying the temporal equipment beyond repair and there was no danger of Scarlioni going back in time to prevent the explosion of his ship. They still had to take their past incarnation back to pick up his TARDIS at Da Vinci's house and Romana would have to suppress some memories of the events that took place.

“Calm down, Alex. At least Missy isn't planning on killing us outright anymore. She wants to construct something now before she does anything and that might give us enough time to do something about it,” Evander told him reassuringly.

“Yeah,” Alex sighed and went upstairs to join the others.


	13. The Black Orchid: Part One

Chapter Thirteen – Black Orchid: Part One 

 

When Rose opened her eyes, she found herself on the platform of a railway station. There didn't seem to be anyone around, but behind her, was the TARDIS.

“Am I ever glad to see you, Old Girl,” Rose mumbled as she used her key to go inside. “Doctor? Is anyone here?” she called when she found no one in the console room.

Getting no reply, Rose moved to the scanners to see what she could find out. No sooner than she had begun to scan for where the Doctor might be, when the whole ship lurched suddenly. Rose shrieked in shock and turned on the screen to show the view outside. 

Apparently, the TARDIS was being towed by some police officers. She decided it was probably best to stay inside and out of sight for now. She could feel that the Doctor was not terribly far away and that he seemed to be heading towards her. He had noticed her presence and she felt his curiosity about her, but Rose didn't communicate with him just yet. She would have to unlock his memories again, so she decided it was best to wait until he arrived.

When the door was finally being unlocked, Rose leaned against the console and crossed her arms. A couple of police officers entered and looked around the room in shock. Tegan, Adric, and Nyssa entered before the Doctor finally came in. While the officers looked at the room in shock, his companions stared at her similarly.

“Who are you?” Tegan demanded as she pushed past the rest of them toward Rose.

“Just visiting,” Rose replied with a friendly smile. “Can I unlock some memories for you, love?” Rose asked the Doctor.

“Of course. What are you doing here?” he wondered as he approached her to allow her to unlock whatever memories she needed to.

“You'll know in a minute,” she told him and pressed her fingers to his temples. He closed his eyes and Rose took a moment to admire his youthful face. Alex was right when he told her that this incarnation would make her list of pretty boys. Not that Alex himself didn't top that list.

The Doctor opened his eyes after a moment and smiled down at Rose before returning his attention to the other people in the TARDIS. “Right, well, as you can see, what I told you is true,” the Doctor announced to the officers.

“Unbelievable. Quite unbelievable. I must say, all this is going to be rather difficult to explain in my report. In this sense, you are owed an apology,” one of the officers replied.

“In this sense?” the Doctor questioned indignantly.

“Well, there is still a murder to be explained,” he argued.

A voice from outside of the TARDIS called, “Sir Robert?”

“Come in!” the Doctor shouted to the man outside.

“Strike me pink!” the officer exclaimed with wide eyes when he entered.

“What is it, Cummings?” the first officer, apparently named Sir Robert, asked as if he hadn't been just as flabbergasted a moment before.

“A call from Lord Cranleigh, sir, up at the Hall. He's found another body. A man called Digby. His neck's broken, just like the servant, James,” Cummings reported.

“The man in the cupboard?” the Doctor questioned knowingly.

“Yes,” Sir Robert said resignedly. “Thank you, Cummings,” he dismissed the officer.

As Cummings left, Sir Robert directed the remaining officer, named Markham, to leave the TARDIS and head back to see Lord Cranleigh.

“I could get you there sooner,” the Doctor called after them helpfully.

“You could? Alright, you do that,” Sir Robert replied with a smile.

The Doctor piloted the TARDIS to their destination and Rose moved to talk to her husband's companions.

“You never answered my question before. Who are you?” Tegan asked her now that they wouldn't interfere with the Doctor's discussion.

“I'm his wife,” Rose told them simply.

“His what?!” Tegan shrieked, causing the Doctor to wince from his place at the console.

“The Doctor never mentioned having a wife,” Adric commented.

“Well, partly because he doesn't talk about things like that with his companions and partly because he hasn't really met me yet,” Rose told them with a wink. They all gaped at her and Rose decided that she would need to stop being so confusing if she was going to gain their trust at all. “Well, he has met me, but he didn't remember until I unlocked the memories for him. He can't remember me once I'm gone again because I didn't first meet him until several centuries later in his life. If he remembers that we're married before we've even met properly, it would be a paradox.”

“I don't get it,” Tegan muttered.

“Oh, it's simple really. They're both time travellers, so they're bound to meet out of order sometimes, but it would affect whether or not she came here if knowing about her before they met affected their relationship in his future but her past. Therefore causing a paradox, so the Doctor has to forget,” Adric told the girls beside him that still looked confused.

“Thank you, Adric. I'm sorry if it's a bit confusing. This is the fifth incarnation of the Doctor. I first met the tenth when I was nineteen. Over the last several days though, an enemy of his called the Mistress has been dragging me through all of his past lives as she tries to kill him in the past,” Rose tried explaining again.

“The Mistress?” Nyssa asked and shivered a bit. “Sounds too much like the Master.”

Rose frowned. “Well, yes, that would be because she is the Master. In the future, the Master regenerated into a woman and is calling herself Missy,” she admitted and Nyssa looked like she might faint. Rose moved to help support her.

“Nyssa, are you alright?” the Doctor asked as he came over and saw how pale she was looking.

“I kind of told them about Missy. Sorry,” Rose explained.

“Oh. Don't worry, Nyssa. Rose has proven herself to be very proficient at preventing Missy from succeeding in her plans. Not to mention that she's here to kill me. I'm sure you'll be quite safe,” the Doctor reassured her. Nyssa nodded, but still seemed a bit distracted as they exited the TARDIS.

As they approached the house, a young woman who looked nearly identical to Nyssa ran out of the doors and into the arms of Sir Robert. She seemed very upset and the group brought her back inside to see what was happening.

There was smoke coming from the next floor through the staircase and at the base of the stairs, a young man was facing off against someone who had been horribly disfigured. Several of his fingers were fused together and his face looked half melted. He darted around the young man in front of him and grabbed Nyssa before running up the staircase.

“Nyssa!” Adric shouted.

“He's started a fire! Get the Brigade!” the young man called when he noticed the smoke from the top of the stairs. He tried to run up after the man who was dragging Nyssa through the flames, the Doctor, Rose, and Adric following close behind.

“The stairs are burning!” the Doctor exclaimed as he pulled the young man back from following any further.

“What was that thing?” Sir Robert questioned.

They followed the Doctor back down the stairs as he approached the finely dressed woman standing nearby.

“Tell him, Lady Cranleigh, and why he's so interested in Ann,” the Doctor demanded forcefully.

“Well?” Sir Robert prompted.

“They were engaged to be married. That thing, as you call him, was my elder son George,” she replied reluctantly.

“How did you know?” the young man questioned the Doctor, taking hold of the woman who was presumably his mother as she started to cry.

“The black orchid for one, Latoni for another,” the Doctor answered.

Rose didn't know what was going on, but she was concerned for Nyssa as they wasted time with these explanations. She tugged on the Doctor's arm to urge him away from the discussion that could surely happen later.

“Explain!” Sir Robert demanded.

“I'll leave Lady Cranleigh to do that. I have to rescue Nyssa,” the Doctor told them. He threaded his fingers with Rose's and ran outside with her to see if they could determine where he was taking her so they could plan another route.

“He won't hurt her. He loves Ann,” Lady Cranleigh argued.

“Yes, but he hasn't got Ann, has he? He's got Nyssa!” Rose pointed out.

“And what will he do when he discovers he has the wrong girl?” the Doctor asked rhetorically, continuing outside.

The others followed them onto the terrace and everyone scoured the windows for some sign of them.

“There they are!” the young man shouted and pointed towards the roof where George was tugging Nyssa along behind him.

“Try and hold his attention here. I'll find a way up through the house,” the Doctor told them. “Wait here, Rose.”

“Not a chance, Doctor,” she replied with a shake of her head. If there was one thing he had learned from their brief interactions, it was that there was no sense arguing with her over staying behind. 

They found another way up through the house and climbed out onto the roof. Along the way, the Doctor had shared the activities of the entire day with Rose so that she would know what was going on. The more she knew, the more she could help after all. 

Charles, Lady Cranleigh's other son and the man who had been facing off against George earlier, had somehow beaten them to the roof. He was trying to convince George to release Nyssa. The poor girl looked terrified with George's arms wrapped tightly around her and smoke still pouring from the house below them.

“George, that isn't Ann. Ann is down there. Look,” the Doctor told him calmly as he and Rose approached from the side opposite Charles.

George looked around nervously, like a caged animal as he tried to see the people below. Ann caught his attention and he looked suspiciously at Nyssa. She panicked and tried to wriggle free, but her actions nearly knocked both of them off the roof.

“Keep still, Nyssa!” the Doctor warned. “It's true, George. Please let me have her. Please.”

Reluctantly, George pushed Nyssa towards the Doctor and she ran into his arms. The Doctor wrapped her in a hug as she tried to calm herself and Rose rubbed her back supportively.

“Thank you, George,” Charles said to him and moved forward to give his brother a hug.

George panicked at the movement and backed away, but he was already so close to the edge of the roof that he tumbled backward, over the parapet to land fatally on the terrace below.

Rose buried her face in the Doctor's lapel and he moved his arm to embrace her in the hug as well. All of them were distraught by the death of Charles. He had already suffered enough, but perhaps now, he could find some peace.

The Fire Brigade was working inside the house to put out the last of the flames as they descended from the roof. When they returned to the foyer, Tegan and Adric hugged Nyssa, happy that she was safe.

“We'll stay for the funeral, Lady Cranleigh, but perhaps we should all get some rest while the authorities clean up a bit?” Rose suggested, noticing that everyone was quite shaken by the events.

Everyone seemed to agree and the TARDIS crew all returned to the ship for the time being. Adric, Nyssa and Tegan all retired to their rooms for a rest.

Alone in the console room, the Doctor suddenly seemed nervous of Rose's presence.

“I should probably contact my Doctors. We'll need to figure out where Missy is hiding since she obviously wasn't a part of all this,” Rose said, breaking the silence that had fallen.

“Yes. That would probably be a good idea. If you're here, then she must be around somewhere as well,” he replied and fiddled with a couple of switches on the console absently.

Rose sent the telepathic signal to her husbands that would release the memory of where and when she was. They would join them here soon, but in the meantime, everyone was safe. She approached this youthful, blonde Doctor and studied his face. He gazed back at her with a shy smile and she softly played with his hair.

In no time at all, they were kissing much more forcefully and Rose was tugging him down the hallway towards his bedroom. They stumbled into the Doctor's bedroom, neither one watching where they were going, both refusing to break the kiss. Rose kicked the door shut behind her and silently asked the TARDIS to lock it.

"Umm... Rose, love...." the Doctor mumbled around her lips. "Are you sure?" he asked insecurely.

She looked at him confusedly. "Sure about what?"

"Are you sure we should be doing this right now?" he questioned as he rubbed his neck in a way that reminded her of Alex.

"Doctor, the last time that we were together, I had your hands tied up while you came in my mouth. Why would you be embarrassed now?" she responded and sent him her memories of kneeling in front of him in that closet. She included a reminder of the images he had sent her as suggestions of what he had wanted to do to her in retaliation.

The Doctor flushed a delicious shade of pink and his eyes widened. "Well, yes.. I... I know that. I mean, I remember all that. It's just, umm.."

"Doctor, stop. I love you. Every single one of you. It doesn't matter to me what you look like or how old you are. My hearts long for yours; past and future; all incarnations. Forever," she told him as she took his hands in hers and gazed into his terrified eyes.

"Oh Rose," he sighed as he closed his eyes and kissed her sweetly.

She realized then, that being with this version of her husband would be quite different. The others were inexperienced, but adventurous. This Doctor was innocent and gentle. This would be a slow exploration for him. And she would let him take his time. She had been a bit forceful with his fourth incarnation and he was frightened of that kind of interaction this time, so she let him lead the way now.

Guiding his hands to the hem of her shirt, she let him take her clothes off as slowly as he liked and just returned his kisses while sending him encouragement through their connection.

It was quite some time before he managed to get both of them naked and into his bed. Rose was getting quite impatient for the main event, but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. So, she just allowed waves of lust to cross over that made him mewl adorably against her neck where he was nuzzling. 

When the Doctor finally made love to her, it was slow, sweet and gentle. She could feel his adoration of her and awe filled wonder at how he could ever deserve such a goddess. They laid together in a tangled heap once they were both sated and dozed lazily for quite some time. 

For that reason, neither of them felt the arrival of the future TARDIS nearby.


	14. The Black Orchid: Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this gets us caught up to where I've written... so it'll slow down a bit now. A huge thank you to my beta TheDoctorMulder for helping me with this... I haven't mentioned her in any of my posts because I was just trying to get everything on this site caught up to the others.

Chapter Fourteen - Black Orchid: Part Two

 

Alex and Evander felt the pulse from Rose as the memories from their fifth life unlocked.

“It's strange. I remember the end of that adventure, without Rose of course, and I remember the funeral. But I don't remember anything from the time in between. We didn't even fill in the time with something else and never questioned how fast that funeral came,” Alex said thoughtfully.

“Well, let's get there anyway. You never know what Missy will get into. Of course, she won't find any parts for her device in 1925,” Evander replied as he moved around the console. Alex joined him in piloting their marvellous ship and they landed with their usual thump.

“That is true. So, if she wasn't involved in the events with the Cranleighs and we don't remember anything happening at all between then and when we left, then what is she doing here?” Alex wondered.

“Let's go find out, shall we?” Evander suggested as he walked out the doors and into the countryside. Alex followed and tugged the doors shut behind him.

They tried to enjoy their walk through the country as they made their way to the past TARDIS. There was a slight pang in their hearts, knowing that they would see Adric. His tragic death had been difficult. They also wondered what their past companions would say to the fact that there were now two of them.

Once they reached the other TARDIS, they let themselves inside and faced an empty console room. Following their link to Rose, they found her asleep in their past self's bedroom. Upon opening the door, they in fact found her snoozing in their past self's arms. It was quite apparent what they had been doing and when the past incarnation of the Doctor opened his eyes at the sound of their entrance, he looked up at their scowling faces rather guiltily.

“It... it... it really wasn't my idea. I swear,” he defended himself worriedly.

“Wha..?” Rose mumbled as she woke and pushed herself up from where her face had been resting on the Doctor's chest.

Alex and Evander both burst out laughing at the frightened look on the other Doctor's face. “Oh I'm sure that it wasn't your idea,” Alex laughed.

“It would seem that Rose has gotten quite a taste for taking advantage of this little jaunt through our past,” Evander added with a raised eyebrow directed at their wife.

Rose rolled onto her back and looked at the three of them with a mischievous smirk. “Mmm... three Doctors? I'd quote Jack by saying that I can't tell you what I'm thinking about that, except that I rather can,” Rose commented and sent all three of them some very elicit thoughts of what they might get up to as a group.

“What?!” the fifth Doctor squeaked as he blushed ferociously and pulled the covers tighter over himself.

The trio from his future laughed uproariously at his reaction.

“Oh, you're adorable!” Rose declared and playfully messed up his blonde hair. “I'm going to take a shower and then we can see what Missy is up to,” she added as she got up from the bed and walked into the en suite, all three Doctors watching her naked hips swing seductively.

“You've been with too many other versions of me lately. I'm not letting you in there without me!” Alex called as he chased her and started pulling off his suit jacket.

Evander shrugged and followed after them as well. The fifth Doctor watched as the washroom door closed behind them with wide eyes. Leaving them to it, he decided to get dressed back into his usual cricket whites and went to run some scans for whatever Missy might be up to.

By the time Rose, Alex, and Evander joined him in the console room, Nyssa, Tegan, and Adric were there as well.

“Hello! I'm the Doctor. Good to see you again,” Alex announced, happily bouncing on his toes.

“I'm also the Doctor,” Evander added with a nod to his past companions. Said companions were currently staring at the new arrivals in shock. “Oh come now, you were all there when I changed into him. You all know about regeneration.”

“Yeah, but why are there two of you here?” Tegan wondered.

“Well, that would take some explaining,” Alex told them contemplatively as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Bit of an odd situation, really. Sort of an accident while regenerating from my eleventh body. I had just gotten Rose back after I thought I had lost her forever and was worried that she wouldn't be happy if I changed again so soon, so I tried to stay the same for her by redirecting the energy after healing myself...” Alex babbled.

“Let's just say, there was a split. Now there's two Doctors,” Evander interrupted.

“And you're trying to stop the Master from killing you in your past?” Nyssa questioned.

“Yes, well, the Master regenerated into a woman and decided to change her name to the Mistress and has been calling herself Missy. While he was always rather maladjusted, Missy is pretty much completely insane,” Alex told them with a glare at Evander for cutting short his explanation.

“Lucky for us, she seems to have decided that she isn't going to kill past me until she's put together a device that will prevent the paradox from ripping the entire universe apart. And at this point in history, she'll never find the parts. So, he at least, should be relatively safe for now,” Evander explained with a nod towards his past incarnation.

“I don't get it,” Tegan announced.

“When do you ever, Tegan?” Alex sighed.

Rose elbowed him in the ribs and chastised, “Rude! You were the one who told me how brilliant all your friends were. Don't listen to him, Tegan. He said once that he only takes the best. If you're here, then that includes you.”

“I suppose I should be thankful to have this version then. Don't suppose yours are any better at flying this thing?” Tegan replied as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“No,” Rose replied at the same time as Alex and Evander announced, “Yes.” They both looked at their wife indignantly as the past Doctor and his companions burst into laughter.

“Maybe I'll let you drive for the next date night, darling and see where we end up,” Evander snarked.

“As if you boys would ever let me fly her on my own,” Rose said with a roll of her eyes.

“As amusing as this all is, what are we going to do about Missy?” Adric interjected.

“Thank you, Adric. I was just running some scans to see if I could locate her. I don't suppose the two of you would care to give me a hand?” the Doctor suggested.

Alex and Evander joined him at the console and the three of them ran as many scans as they could for some sign of Missy. They were hoping to be able to pick up some technology or something, but couldn't seem to find anything. They were about to give up and just go exploring until they found trouble, when a mauve light on the console flashed and a small alarm sounded.

“That's a distress call,” the Doctor announced and moved to find out the source. “It's from another TARDIS!”

“What?!” Alex exclaimed and moved to see the results as well. “That's from OUR TARDIS!”

Evander groaned. “We forgot to put her out of phase again so that Missy couldn't get inside,” he realized.

“Missy wouldn't have activated the distress signal,” Alex said confusedly.

“How in the world? It looks like the TARDIS sent the signal herself. It's directed only to us, not a wide broadcast. She probably knew that Missy would find it otherwise. How can your TARDIS do that?” the past Doctor questioned.

“I didn't know she could,” Alex replied with raised eyebrows. “Rose, did you... Rose?” he paused when he looked up and didn't see her in the room anymore.

“She didn't!” Evander denied and ran down the corridor to look for their wife.

“Stop it, Evander! You can tell from our link, she's gone again. We've got to get back to our TARDIS and see what the hell Missy has done,” Alex called after him.

They could feel that their TARDIS was still there, so Missy hadn't stolen it, but obviously the TARDIS felt there was a problem or she wouldn't have sent a signal to her past self. Alex and Evander led the way and the past Doctor along with his companions followed to see if they could help.

“I can't say that I'm upset not to have run into the Master again,” Nyssa announced along the way.

“Me either. Especially if she's even more crazy than he was,” Tegan replied, smirking to herself over trying to get the pronouns right.

“Oh, plenty more trouble for us to find in the universe. In the meantime, I hope she hasn't done too much damage to the TARDIS,” the blonde haired Doctor told them.

When they entered the later TARDIS, Alex and Evander went straight to work trying to determine the problem. The fifth Doctor had been in this console room before and leaned against the railing as he took in his companions' reactions.

“Oh my god! It looks completely different,” Tegan cried as she looked around in shock.

“It's rather dark in here, isn't it?” Nyssa commented.

“I like it. It's much more interesting than your control room, Doctor,” Adric said with a smile.

“What?” the fifth Doctor pouted.

“Why thank you, Adric! We like it too,” Alex beamed as he popped his head up from the lower level.

“She's able to give me some video surveillance of when Missy came in here,” Evander announced hopefully.

Everyone moved to huddle around the monitor as the video played and they saw Missy dance around the console room a couple of times. She tried to go deeper into the ship, but the TARDIS managed to block the door out of the console room. They watched as she scowled angrily and stomped down the stairs to the area underneath the console. The video unfortunately, didn't follow her, but when she came back up to the main level, she was clearly holding some part proudly in her hands.

“Dammit! What did she take?” Evander cursed loudly.

Adric, Tegan, and Nyssa were shocked by the idea of the Doctor cursing. They looked at each other warily, unsure of exactly what to do in this situation. The past Doctor decided to try and take some control of the situation.

“Well, we know that it came from the area below. Best start looking there,” he suggested.

“Yup. Tell you what, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, why don't I show you all to the library or swimming pool or something while we try to figure out what's missing?” Alex asked.

“A swimming pool? That sounds fantastic!” Tegan beamed. The others agreed and after a quick trip to the wardrobe room for appropriate attire, they were happily relaxing by the pool.

Alex rejoined Evander and the fifth Doctor beneath the console, just as the past Doctor was asking, “So, once we figure out which part is missing, how do you expect to replace it? I've gotten the impression that a trip to Gallifrey is out of the question for you.”

“Oh, well, I've got an architectural reconfiguration system,” Evander announced proudly.

“What?” the past Doctor squeaked in shock. “How in Rassilon's name did you manage that?”

“It took a few centuries, but it was that or spend the rest of my life salvaging parts that were never meant for the TARDIS,” Evander replied as he opened another panel to examine what was inside.

“So, we just have to figure out what part needs replacing before visiting our little 'parts tree' and getting what we need,” Alex commented and started digging through a section of wires to look for anything that might be missing.


	15. Timelash: Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you are enjoying this story! I have the most amazing ideas for the next little bit, but what I could really use are suggestions on an audio play for eight. I'm not familiar with them and I'd love suggestions so that I don't have to buy all of them at once just yet. Thank You and please review!

Chapter Fifteen – Timelash: Part One

Rose sat up from the floor slowly. She was in the console room of the TARDIS again and as she looked around, she saw the sixth Doctor and Peri looking away from her.

“What was that? Or did I imagine her?” Peri asked.

“No. No, she was real enough,” the Doctor replied.

“Anyone important?” she questioned.

“Didn't get a chance to ask,” the Doctor told her cheekily.

“Great. Do you expect any more uninvited guests?” Peri wondered.

“I'm pretty sure that I wasn't invited,” Rose interrupted from where she was still sitting on the floor.

“What in the world? Did you come through the time corridor?” the Doctor asked worriedly as he helped Rose up from the floor.

“No, love,” Rose replied as she rubbed her aching head. These trips weren't getting any easier. “Give me a moment and I'll unlock some memories for you,” she explained.

“Of course,” he acknowledged as he helped to support her. He could feel the link between them and trusted her instantly.

“Who is she, Doctor? Where did she come from?” Peri wondered.

“I'm Rose. I'm the Doctor's wife. As for where I came from, I'm being pulled through his timeline by an old friend of his, who has decided to be significantly less than friendly,” she explained.

“Feeling better now?” he asked as he tried to look into her eyes to assess her wellbeing.

“Yes. I wish I could get used to that before she does it again,” Rose told him with a sigh and reached for his temples to unlock the memories of their previous encounters. Knowing that Peri wouldn't be with him after the trial, she knew that this had to be before that.

“I'm so glad that you're alright,” the Doctor told her once he had regained the memories of their last meeting. “I still don't remember what happened after you left, but we'll figure that out later. For now, it would appear that the time corridor has fully stabilized,” he announced when he moved back to the console.

“That woman we saw flying through here, was she travelling down the time corridor?” Peri asked.

“Yes. I only hope she wasn't banking on reaching twelfth century Earth. The TARDIS is bound to have deflected her path,” the Doctor replied.

“Well then, we must help her,” Peri insisted.

“We can hardly help ourselves,” the Doctor told her. Just then, a section of the TARDIS console began to spark violently. “Velocity override! Help me get her under control, Rose!” he shouted.

“I thought you said the worst was over,” Peri complained as she tried to hold on to something. The time ship was lurching fiercely in a manner quite familiar to Rose.

“Did I?” he responded dismissively. “She's attempting to materialize. We must be near the source of the time tunnel,” the Doctor told them.

The TARDIS landed with her usual thump and all three of her passengers breathed a sigh of relief. The Doctor put the view outside of the ship up on the scanner screen. There seemed to be several people outside, waiting for them to emerge.

“A reception committee. Well, they look friendly enough,” Peri commented. 

“I don't see any guns or pitchforks at any rate,” Rose added.

“They should be friendly enough. I've been here before,” the Doctor told them as he examined the image outside.

“And where's here?” Peri wondered, fidgeting nervously.

“Karfel. I was here a regeneration or three back,” the Doctor replied.

“The cape?” Rose asked him with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes. I brought Jo along with me for that trip,” he told her.

“I thought you couldn't travel again until Sarah Jane was with you?” Rose questioned.

“Well, I was allowed a few trips here and there. And now, they've gone and made me President of all things,” he responded haughtily. “Now, that time corridor is definitely a problem. Karfel should be centuries from such technology.”

The Doctor strode confidently towards the doors before turning back to warn them, “Now, don't go wandering off until I'm certain this place is clear.” 

“Yes, sir,” Peri replied.

“You know I'm not letting you out of my sight, Doctor. Missy is here somewhere and the last trip was far too easy,” Rose informed him.

He nodded and took her arm as they exited the TARDIS to greet the people waiting outside.

“Welcome, Time Lord,” said one of the men before them.

“Hello, I'm the Doctor,” he replied and stood with an air of confidence and superiority.

“And I am Tekker. Maylin Tekker. We are honoured that you have decided to visit us again after all this time,” the man told them.

“Indeed you are. This is my lovely wife, Lady Rose, and my assistant, Peri,” the Doctor informed them.

Rose took on the air of the Lady Inquisitor, since it seemed that she would need to play the part of a distinguished Time Lady in front of these people. She nodded her head towards them in acknowledgement.

“Hi,” Peri said with a small wave.

“Only the three of you?” Tekker asked.

“Yes, well, it's so difficult to recruit good staff these days, don't you agree? Maylin, about this time corridor in space,” the Doctor responded, trying to get right to the point of concern.

“All in good time, Doctor. All in good time. Please, enjoy our hospitality first,” Tekker replied. He took Peri by the arm, much the way the Doctor was holding Rose's, and asked her, “Have you been travelling long?”

“Well, it's hard to say, really. Time just flies when you're in the TARDIS,” Peri answered as she allowed herself to be escorted away.

~'I don't trust him. He seems.... slimy or something,'~ Rose thought to the Doctor.

~'I agree. There's definitely something wrong here. Stay close,'~ he replied and squeezed her arm tighter against his side as they followed Peri.

They arrived in a large room with several couches and an intimidating android that held a tray of drinks.

“Please come in, Doctor,” Tekker announced. He watched the Doctor warily as he took in the room. When the Doctor noticed the security camera mounted over the door, he told him, “Oh, our security system. There have been a lot of changes since you were last here.”

“So I see,” the Doctor replied curtly.

The android offered drinks to all of them, but only Peri accepted the cup. Peri wandered the room, curiously taking in all of the furnishings and decorations. When she noticed a shelf full of plants, she immediately went to examine them, calling, “Oh, what unusual plants!”

“Peri is a bit of a bontanist,” the Doctor explained.

“Indeed,” Tekker acknowledged.

“Maylin, I'd like to talk to you about...” the Doctor began, but was interrupted by the android grabbing Peri's necklace and yanking it off of her.

“Ow! Hey, that's mine! What's all that about?” Peri protested angrily.

“I'm terribly sorry about that. I do hope it didn't frighten you too much,” Tekker apologized.

“I'm more concerned about losing my Saint Christopher,” Peri grumbled and rubbed her neck where the chain had broken.

“Yes. I think the android was trying to warn you away from this plant. Although it is a very beautiful specimen, it has the nasty habit of ejecting an acidic fluid into the face of the admirer,” Tekker told her.

“Well, I'm surprised you have them on display,” Peri responded suspiciously.

“And since she has been warned away from the plant now, I don't suppose that thing could return her necklace?” Rose added.

“I think perhaps a little re-potting and reprogramming are in order. Don't you, Maylin?” the Doctor suggested, equally suspicious of the robot's actions.

“Yes. You could be right,” he answered, distracted by a red light that was blinking on the camera over the door. “Ah. Excuse me for a moment, will you?” he said as he thrust the supposedly dangerous plant into the Doctor's arms.

“Charming fellow,” the Doctor snarked and put the plant back where it had been taken from. “The place has certainly changed. There's something missing. What is it?” he wondered.

“It's so dull,” Peri commented.

“Bored already?” the Doctor mused.

“No, Doctor, that's it! Brilliant, Peri! There are no reflective surfaces anywhere. Could that be why...” Rose began when a young man burst into the room, shoved a note into Peri's hand, and ran off again.

“Hey, wait a minute!” the Doctor called after him, but he was gone.

Peri opened the note and read it aloud, “Sezon at the Falchian Rocks.”

The three of them examined it in confusion, but Peri quickly hid it in her pocket when Tekker returned. He seemed to be scheming something and Rose once again took the Doctor's arm. She would not allow them to be separated.

“I have arranged a short tour of the Citadel,” he announced with a smile.

“Splendid,” the Doctor replied.

“For your wife and assistant,” Tekker added.

“Oh, sounds great, but I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you,” Peri told him.

“Oh, but it's all arranged. Counsellor Brunner is waiting outside to escort you, and I have so much to talk to you about, Doctor. The time corridor was a brilliant stroke of luck,” Tekker explained.

“I couldn't possibly leave my husband's side. Quite impossible,” Rose announced.

“Well, Peri, no reason why you shouldn't enjoy the offer. You go and have a look around. We'll join you when we've finished our little chat,” the Doctor told her.

“Doctor, in the TARDIS, you distinctly said...” Peri protested.

“Oh, never mind what I said in the TARDIS. Off you go. The Maylin and I have important things to discuss, don't we, Maylin?” the Doctor insisted.

~'You're hoping that she'll discover some background conspiracy out there?'~ Rose asked him silently.

~'That is what I'm hoping. Although she never seems to understand that role completely, she does usually manage to stumble upon things anyway,'~ he responded.

Peri left for her little tour, somewhat reluctantly. The Maylin didn't seem happy with Rose's continued presence, but didn't outright protest. He then began to weave a tale about one of their counsellors having fallen into the Timelash accidentally with a very important item. The amulet was apparently key to accessing the planet's power supply and everyone would die without it.

“And you seriously expect us to believe this preposterous story? That a Lady of the Inner Sanctum just happened to fall into the time vortex with a vitally important key to your power vault?” the Doctor questioned incredulously.

“Yes, Doctor, and there's very little time left,” Tekker replied.

“For what?” the Doctor wondered.

“For you to retrieve it,” Tekker informed him.

“Retrieve it? You seriously expect us to go through space and time looking for a lost girl and her trinket? Give me one good reason why I should,” the Doctor demanded angrily.

“Peri,” Tekker responded haughtily.

“And there it is. You want us to retrieve IT. Not HER. You couldn't care less about the poor woman that fell, you just want the stupid amulet. And it's no wonder you wanted Peri and I out of here so badly. Would have been nice to have me in your clutches as well, wouldn't it?” Rose fumed at the Maylin.

“Rose,” the Doctor warned, not wishing any harm to come to her or Peri.

“Yes, it would have been nice to be able to dangle the life of his wife in front of him as well, but, with what we know about the Doctor, one of his companions will do,” Tekker responded with a sneer.

“We'll go. For Peri's sake,” the Doctor told him, his own fury simmering beneath the surface.

As they walked back to the TARDIS, they heard Tekker calling after them, “Good luck, Doctor. For Peri's sake, don't come back empty handed.”

“The reason I am doing this, Maylin, is not only to ensure Peri's safety, but the safety and well-being of all on this planet. Something furthest from your mind, I fancy,” the Doctor growled at him in reply.

Upon closing the TARDIS doors, the Doctor threw them into the vortex and leaned against the console. His head dropped in frustration and Rose could feel his remorse at sending Peri straight into a trap.

“Doctor, you couldn't have known that you were handing her over as a hostage,” Rose told him reassuringly.

“Perhaps. Perhaps I could have. This happens far too often,” he grumbled self-deprecatingly.

“Love, all of your companions learn very quickly how dangerous it is to travel with you. We know the risks, and we stay anyway. You've always called me jeopardy friendly. I think that's a trait you seek out in your friends,” she told him and pulled him into her arms. He went willingly and allowed the serenity of her mind to calm him further. “Now, we are in the vortex. Not taking up any time at all. I think, you could use a little... stress relief,” Rose added suggestively.

"Hmmm. I never did get around to those plans with the scarf, did I?" the Doctor mused as he admired Rose's short skirt.

"No, I don't think you did," she replied with a smirk. Oh, he was ready for playtime, was he? "Shall I run down to the wardrobe room to retrieve it?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't think so. I have a much better idea, my dear," he replied and surprised her by grasping both of her wrists as he stood behind her and sucked on her neck.

Rose gasped at the sudden movement, but found it incredibly arousing. Especially since he was pressing his erection against her bum through their layers of clothing. She allowed him to guide her hands up to rest on the top of the console and simply closed her eyes to bask in the waves of lust he was sending straight into her mind. She opened her eyes when she felt him tying something around her wrists. It was his tie. The long piece of turquoise fabric with little white dots on it was hardly something she would have thought of using for this purpose, but now, she would never be able to see that colour combination again without thinking of sex against the console.

Once he had secured her restraint to a metal loop on the console, the Doctor slid his hands slowly down her sides, smiling at the shiver that his actions sent through her. He lifted her red skirt up over her behind and smacked her bum playfully. 

Rose squeaked in surprise. She hadn't played that way with her husbands before, but with this Doctor, it somehow seemed perfect.

He decided to keep them both dressed, just undid his trousers and slid her knickers to the side. There was something elicit feeling about the idea of taking her this way and he loved the thrill that ran through both of them. He ran his fingers along her folds teasingly and Rose groaned in appreciation.

She wriggled her hips, trying to get him to press harder against her, but he used his other hand to hold her still against the side of the console. He kept his touches soft, ghosting over her flesh. He could feel through their bond that she wanted more, but was definitely enjoying this. He surprised her again with another smack to her backside. It wasn't painful and wasn't intended to be. Both felt their need heighten as he watched her pale skin turn a lovely shade of pink.

He slid into her from behind and reached around to pinch at her nipples through her blouse. She was right, this was exactly the kind of stress relief that he needed. It had been so long since their last meeting and even that had been painfully brief.

Rose felt her legs shaking as she allowed the excitement of this joining to take over. Her hearts were racing and she tugged against the tie holding her wrists. She had the overwhelming desire to bury her fingers in his hair, but had to settle for turning her head just enough to meet his lips in a fierce kiss.

His thrusts were fast and pounding, unlike anything the previous Doctors had done with her. This reminded her more of the activities she had done with her future Doctors. In particular, a time during their shared dream, where her naked breasts had been pressed against the TARDIS' telepathic circuits. She tried to redirect her thoughts to the present. There was no need to upset another Doctor by thinking about Jack while he was bringing her to new levels of ecstasy with hot console sex.

She wriggled her bottom against him encouragingly and he groaned, pulling her hips against his even harder. There were sure to be bruises by the time they were done, but neither of them cared.

Rose shrieked when her orgasm took over and arched back with her head over his shoulder. He pinched her nipples tightly as she clenched around him and his rhythm faltered, finding himself tumbling over the precipice with her.

He collapsed against her back when it was over and they both struggled to slow their gasping breaths. Rose sighed happily, prompting a playful nuzzle from the man behind her. He reached over to untie her wrists and brought them both to his mouth for a gentle kiss on the red lines left behind.

"How about a shower, love?" Rose suggested with a smile.

"Your wish is my command, my dear," the Doctor replied and threaded her arm around his to escort her to his room. 

When they were both cleaned up from their bout of stress relief, the Doctor went back to the TARDIS controls and ran the calculations for where the poor girl they were searching for would have ended up.

“1179 AD... Add a time deflection coefficient of seven hundred and six years, that is 1885 AD,” he announced confidently when he had finished the calculations.


	16. Timelash: Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to my beta, TheDoctorMulder!! And I'd love it if any of you would like to make a suggestion for which story with Eight, from the audio plays would do well for this? I'm not familiar with them and could use a little help finding a good one without buying all of them at once to research.

Chapter Sixteen – Timelash: Part Two

 

The TARDIS landed outside of a small cottage and Rose asked, “Do we know her name? Or what she looks like? Tekker didn't really seem to care if we found her alive or not.”

“Well, he said her name was Vena, and I presume she'll seem rather out of place, coming from the future and an entirely different planet,” the Doctor replied.

“You never have a plan,” she teased.

“More fun that way,” he replied with a grin and took her arm before heading outside.

“It's a blue monolith!” exclaimed a shocked looking man dressed for the 1800s.

“Hello! Have you seen a rather surprised young lady?” the Doctor asked him politely.

The man immediately held up a crucifix towards them and started backing away into the cottage. “Avaunt thee foul fanged fiend!”

“Oh, don't be afraid of us. We just came to help someone who got lost and get her back home,” Rose explained.

“Back from where you came, spirits of the glass,” he ordered them defensively.

“Not just yet, if you don't mind. Ah! Now you must be Vena,” the Doctor said cheerily as they entered the cottage. Inside, they saw a woman wearing robes similar to the people on Karfel.

“Yes, my name is Vena,” she replied.

“I'm afraid we left you rather up in the air on our last fleeting encounter,” the Doctor told her.

“It was you in the Timelash?” she questioned.

“No, Vena, don't talk to them,” the young man warned, still holding the crucifix towards the Doctor and Rose.

“Hey now, I told you, we came here to help her. She's gotten lost, we aren't going to hurt anyone,” Rose said, trying to calm him down.

“Quite. I'm the Doctor and this is my wife, Rose. Delighted to meet you,” the Doctor told her and offered a brief handshake in greeting.

“The Doctor?” she gasped, obviously familiar with the stories of the last time he had visited Karfel.

“It is a pleasure, Vena. We came to bring you back home,” Rose told her.

“Oh, but...” Vena began, shaking her head in panic.

“I think you have something which your Maylin would like returned,” the Doctor insisted.

Rose grabbed the young man's arm as he tried to hit the Doctor over the head with a spiritualist book. “What do you think you're doing?” she cried.

“Vena was afraid when she got here and I promised to protect her,” he insisted.

“Herbert has been quite kind to me. But I do know of the Doctor. We have been told that he is kind and helpful,” Vena admitted.

“Thank you. We are not spirits. My ship travels through time and space,” the Doctor told him.

“A machine that transcends time itself? Can I see it?” Herbert asked excitedly.

“Er... some other time, perhaps. Our first priority is to return the amulet,” the Doctor told him, not particularly keen on bringing him along.

“No! The amulet stays here. Mykros warned me the Borad's power depends upon it,” Vena insisted adamantly.

“So do the lives of everyone on Karfel. It must be returned. Trust me. It's the only way to help your people and defeat this Borad of whom you speak,” the Doctor told her reassuringly.

“I know you saved our planet once before, Doctor, and so I do trust you. Very well, when do we leave?” Vena responded reluctantly.

“Rose and I are leaving immediately. You'll be safer here with Herbert. As soon as Karfel is free again, I promise to return for you,” the Doctor instructed.

“Doctor, it is my planet, and they are my people. Either you take me back with you now, or the amulet stays here,” Vena replied.

Rose saw how strongly Vena wanted to help save her people from whoever this Borad person was and knew that she would have to make sure that her husband allowed her that chance. “Doctor, don't you think that Vena's knowledge of the situation on Karfel would be helpful in figuring out who this person is and how to stop him? She knew that the amulet was important to him and how to get it away from there,” she suggested.

“I can never deny you anything, Rose,” the Doctor admitted with a sigh. “Very well, but we must hurry. Goodbye, Herbert. Perhaps I'll allow you to exorcise me another time.”

“Oh, Doctor, you can't leave me behind after all this,” Herbert argued.

“Herbert, where we are going is very dangerous and will have a lot of things happening that you won't understand. The less people we bring with us, the safer it will be for everyone. So, for Vena's sake, please, stay here,” Rose told him.

“Oh, very well, then. Then goodbye, Vena. I wish we could have got better acquainted,” Herbert acquiesced a little too easily.

“Goodbye, Herbert, and good luck,” Vena told him and retrieved a small pouch from a desk drawer where she had hidden it.

“Nice enough young fellow, but we must hurry. Have you got the amulet?” the Doctor asked Vena. “Good. Remind me to return this mirror to Herbert sometime. Come along, ladies,” he told them as he hid a handheld mirror in the inside pocket of his colourful jacket.

“Reflecting on Peri's observation?” Rose asked him with a raised eyebrow. He didn't answer but tapped her playfully on the nose and unlocked the TARDIS door.

Rose helped the Doctor to pilot the ship back to Karfel since they had to navigate around the time corridor. The two of them worked surprisingly seamlessly and she felt a wave of affection crash over her. Vena's voice broke through their moment of basking in each other's presence.

“Until recently, our schools taught of your first visit to our planet and your promise to return,” Vena announced.

“Promise?” the Doctor asked distractedly.

“You do remember?” Vena questioned.

“Yes, of course. Never like to forget a promise,” he replied, though he clearly didn't remember promising to return.

“But the Borad's changed everything. Gradually, he's taking over the entire planet. I was misled like the rest of our leaders. It has already cost my father his life. And Mykros, the man I was to marry, is probably floating in the Timelash now,” Vena told them despondently. She started to fiddle with one of the controls on the console and the Doctor moved to prevent her from touching anything dangerous..

“Don't worry about the Borad. I'll deal with him, make no mistake. I show little mercy to time meddlers,” the Doctor reassured her.

“Who is the Borad?” Rose asked her but everyone turned in shock as they heard Herbert coming into the console room from deeper inside the TARDIS.

“Incredible. It's just incredible,” he said excitedly.

“What are you doing here?” the Doctor demanded.

“Just look at this place. I can't believe it. Do you know it's actually bigger inside...” Herbert began.

“I know,” the Doctor interrupted irritatedly.

“...than it is on the outside?” Herbert continued.

“I know! I know!” the Doctor shouted at him as he flicked a few more switches so that he could deal with Herbert without having the ship crash in the meantime.

“Do we travel above or below water?” Herbert wondered and Rose rolled her eyes. She told him that he wouldn't understand anything about where they were going.

“Do you realize there is an intergalactic law expressly forbidding stowaways?” the Doctor shouted angrily.

“They'll never believe me. I'm sorry, Doctor. Sorry I tricked you. But I'm not sorry I'm here,” Herbert continued babbling in wonder.

“Since there's no time to take you back, it looks as if we're stuck with you,” the Doctor grumbled.

“I can't believe this is actually happening,” Herbert beamed.

“If you so much as breathe when you shouldn't, or get in my way, I'll lock you up until all this is over, is that understood?” the Doctor ordered.

“Yes, Doctor, whatever you say,” he said dismissively.

“I don't think you quite understand how dangerous this is going to be, Herbert,” Rose warned him and the air around them began to distort as they began to materialize back near the time corridor.

“Is it always like this, Doctor?” Vena asked worriedly.

“We're transcending the time vortex. Brace yourselves,” the Doctor instructed as he and Rose tried to keep the ship together through the landing.

~'Should I contact my Doctors, love?'~ Rose wondered.

~'Might be a good idea. I have a feeling that it's about to hit the proverbial fan,'~ he replied.

They exited the TARDIS as Rose sent the memory release signal along the bond to her Doctors, wherever they were. She just hoped that they would get here soon.

“Ah, welcome back, Doctor. Oh, and I'm so please to see you again, Vena. Have you got the amulet?” Tekker told them with false sincerity.

“Where's the Borad? I demand to see him,” the Doctor ordered and Rose could see that this was perhaps the incarnation that began the formation of the Oncoming Storm facet in his personality. 

“Impossible,” Tekker denied dismissively.

“No Borad, no amulet,” the Doctor insisted.

“Come along, Doctor. Hand over the amulet or I shall be obliged to retrieve it by force,” Maylin Tekker replied with a threatening glare.

“Do you realize with whom you're dealing?” the Doctor responded fiercely.

“Your bravado is all very well, but it won't do much to help your assistant, Peri. I would hate to have to have her put to death,” Tekker told him and Rose tugged on her husband's arm, trying to get him to back down a little for Peri's sake. She sincerely hoped that her two other Time Lords would arrive to help settle this soon.

Vena took matters into her own hands and gave the amulet to Tekker. “Now stop this madness, Tekker. You cannot hope to defeat a Time Lord,” Vena told him.

Several guards entered the room with a group of young men and women in custody. One of them wrestled with his captor and shouted, “Vena!” She almost moved to try and help him, but Rose held out her arm to keep them back from the guards, lest they all find themselves restrained.

“Brunner, prepare the Timelash,” Tekker ordered as he glared threateningly at the Doctor.

**************************************************************

The rather bored fifth Doctor sat on the stairs that led from the lower part of the console room up to the main level as Alex and Evander continued to dig through the wiring. He had given up on searching some time ago, but didn't really have a better suggestion to give at the moment.

“This is useless!” Evander shouted angrily.

“Well, what do you suggest, Doctor? Because I don't see how else we're going to figure out what she took,” Alex argued once he took his sonic out from between his teeth.

“Rose would know. She'd know exactly what to try,” Evander mused.

“What? Does she talk with the TARDIS?” the fifth Doctor asked jokingly.

Alex and Evander looked at each other for a moment as they considered that thought. She had done it before, but she wasn't here anyway. “Even if she could do it again, she isn't here to try it again,” Alex told them.

“What do you mean again?” the past Doctor squeaked.

“Never mind. It doesn't matter,” Evander replied dismissively. Suddenly, Alex and Evander both clenched their eyes shut as memories of events with Rose unlocked in their minds.

“I take it, you know where Rose is now?” the fifth Doctor asked as he watched the process curiously.

“Karfel,” Evander answered as he shook his head and blinked a few times.

“Karfel? Why would she be there?” the Doctor asked.

“Because that's where the next Doctor is, of course. And they are in quite a lot of trouble right now,” Alex replied worriedly.

“Should I take my TARDIS to go and help them?” the fifth Doctor suggested.

“While I would normally jump at the idea of more people being there to protect Rose, I'd rather not give Missy a second go at you,” Alex told him.

“I agree. Our memories say that we got out of it, hopefully the real events were similarly successful without our intervention. Let's just find a way to get this fixed. I'm going to run a diagnostic. Maybe the TARDIS herself can show us what's wrong,” Evander said as he marched back up to the main console room.

***************************************************

Rose, the Doctor, Vena, and Herbert were led by the guards along with the rebel prisoners towards the portal that led to the time corridor. The people of Karfel seemed to call it the Timelash and were using it as a form of execution.

“Where's Peri? You promised her safe return,” the Doctor demanded angrily.

“Ah, yes. Well, you shouldn't believe everything that people tell you, Doctor,” Tekker admitted.

“You gave me your word, you microcephalic apostate! I demand to see the Borad immediately,” the Doctor fumed.

Rose suppressed a smile at his choice of insults. It seemed as though he had been playing with his thesaurus again. She knew that this man wasn't trustworthy from the start. Now she hoped that the Doctor had a plan to get them out of this despite the betrayal.

“Admit defeat, Doctor,” Tekker taunted him confidently.

“Never,” the Doctor denied as he clasped Rose's hand tightly. ~'Don't worry, love. I do have something up my sleeve, you might say,'~ he thought to her reassuringly.

~'I'm willing to bet it's more likely inside your jacket pocket,'~ she thought back to him.

~'Always so observant,'~ he replied.

“The stories I've heard about you. The great Doctor, all knowing and all powerful. You're about as powerful as a burnt out android. Our ruler has finished with you once and for all,” Tekker announced pompously.

“You don't know what you're dealing with,” Rose growled at him protectively.

“We can't do this, Tekker,” one of the other citizens protested.

“Shut up, or you'll be joining them,” Tekker replied harshly.

“You're as warped as your dictator friend,” the Doctor countered.

“Save your breath for the Timelash, Doctor. Most people depart with a scream,” Tekker sneered.

“The vortex is ready, Maylin,” the man that had been referred to as Brunner informed him.

“Despatch the Doctor first,” Tekker ordered and a large android approached the Doctor threateningly.

Rose tried to block the thing from reaching him, but the Doctor pushed her aside and allowed himself to be taken. It forced him towards the portal as the Doctor struggled to reach into his pocket.

“Goodbye, Doctor. Unpleasant journey,” Tekker said as he laughed maniacally.


	17. Timelash: Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter for sexy sixy! A big thank you goes to my beta TheDoctorMulder!! I've got big plans for the future of this series, so I really hope you like it. Please review, it means a lot to me.

Chapter Seventeen - Timelash: Part Three

 

As the android pushed the Doctor closer to the portal of the Timelash, he finally pulled the mirror from his pocket and flashed it in the face of the robot. He had gathered from its behaviour regarding Peri's pendant that it was programmed to eliminate all sources of reflection. The mirror therefore served as a very effective distraction in its programming. The android lunged clumsily after the mirror in his hands and ceased completely in trying to push him through the portal.

The other rebels used this distraction to make their move in attacking their captors. After Tekker fled the room, the rebels sealed the doors behind him. During the continued struggle between the Doctor and the android, one of the rebels pushed Brunner into the android, causing both of them to fall into the Timelash. The Doctor stumbled backward into the arms of his wife.

“Thank you, Mykros,” the Doctor mumbled.

“Doctor,” Mykros acknowledged.

“Are you alright, Doctor?” Rose asked as she checked him over.

“I'm fine, love. Now, get those guards next door and tie them up,” the Doctor ordered.

“We're safe. Just let them try breaking in,” one of the rebels announced confidently.

“They will, but we must be ready for them,” the Doctor instructed.

“But how?” another asked.

“We're safe for now, but we must turn this pause to our advantage,” the Doctor told them.

“Should we assume that Missy will be working with this Borad, Doctor?” Rose questioned.

“Perhaps. But until she shows herself, I'm going to deal with one problem at a time,” the Doctor replied and reassured her with a quick kiss on her cheek.

“What is this Timelash, Doctor?” Herbert asked.

“Not now, Herbert. Mykros, can you hand me some strong rope or wire?” the Doctor called to him where he was securing the guards.

“Yes, right,” Mykros replied and ran to find some.

“Doctor, what are you going to do?” Vena wondered.

“Enter the Timelash,” he responded.

“Not without me you're not. Now tell me why,” Rose demanded and crossed her arms over her chest in a manner that allowed no room for argument.

“Inside that portal, there are Kontron crystals. They have special properties that I can use to our advantage. Time manipulating properties. I need to go inside and collect a few of them,” the Doctor explained.

“And it's dangerous to go in there. So you aren't going on your own,” Rose told him assuredly.

“Quite. Are you sure that it's a job for a woman, Doctor,” Herbert interrupted.

Rose gave the man a glare that had him cowering almost immediately.

“Herbert, I realize that you are somewhat out of your time, but no matter when you are from, insulting a woman's capabilities is a very bad idea. And insulting my Rose like that, could be fatal,” the Doctor told him with a pat on his shoulder.

The Doctor attached the length of rope around his waist and looped another section around Rose's waist next to him. They tied the end securely and all of the rebels worked together to control the speed of their descent into the portal. 

There was turbulence all around them. It wasn't exactly wind, but it made manoeuvring difficult. They climbed on the larger crystals as they collected two smaller ones. Darkness surrounded them from behind, the swirling clouds of the vortex threatening. The crystals in front of them glowed with an inner white light. 

The Doctor almost fell at one point, dangling precariously by the rope, but Rose utilized her extensive gymnastics skills to help him back onto solid footing again. One impressive flip and her amazing flexibility allowing her to reach him and pull him to safety. With two crystals safely stored in the Doctor's pockets, they called to the rebels to pull them back up.

Once the Doctor and Rose were back safely in the room, Vena asked, “Are you alright? Where are the crystals? Doctor, did you get the crystals?”

“Yes. Yes, we did. And oh, my darling girl, where did you ever learn to do that?” the Doctor praised Rose and lifted her up in a spinning hug.

Rose laughed and replied, “Jericho Street Junior School Under 7's gymnastics team. I got the bronze.”

“Mmm. Perhaps we could put those gymnastics skills to further use,” he purred into her ear.

“Oh, tempting, love. But I think we have bigger problems to deal with right now. So what are we building and how can I help?” Rose answered and pulled away to avoid further temptation for the moment. Considering how squeamish his last incarnation was regarding a shared shower, it seemed as though this version might be trying to make up for lost opportunities.

He set her to work on the device that would bounce back an energy weapon attack on a 10 second delay and use the energy to send the attacker backward in time as well as displaced in space. He outlined how the crystals worked and she set about creating the device while he worked on another.

“Do you want the whole of this panel out, Doctor?” Mykros asked him as he tore apart the control console of the Timelash.

“Every last nut and bolt, if you please,” he replied.

“What are you making?” Vena questioned.

“Just a mess at the moment,” the Doctor told her as he worked to attach one of the wires hanging over his neck into the connection he was trying to make. The table was covered with pieces of the electronics in the room that they were scavenging for parts.

“Shouldn't we prepare for the attack on this place, Doctor?” Herbert asked worriedly.

“I am,” the Doctor responded curtly.

“What do you think we're trying to do, Herbert?” Rose sighed in exasperation.

“Well, how are these baubles and crystal balls going to help us?” Herbert questioned.

“You'll see,” the Doctor replied.

“But will it work?” Herbert insisted.

“Would you stop it already? Of course it's going to work. They aren't going to bust in here with swords and arrows. The weapons they'll be using are far more advanced than anything you'd understand, so logically, the defences that we need will also be beyond your understanding. Now, if you don't mind, we have work to do and a rather irritating time limit!” Rose growled frustratedly.

“Quite. Now, calm down, love. We'll get this done in plenty of time. Hurry up with that unit, Mykros,” the Doctor ordered.

“Yes, nearly there,” Mykros replied.

Once they had everything assembled, they ran a few demonstrative tests to show that the devices would work as planned. The Doctor's device was worn around the neck and, when activated, allowed the wearer to move ten seconds ahead of what people could see. It would allow him to get out of the way of an attack and perform a few actions without being immediately seen in the vicinity. He had also created a small viewer that would allow anyone looking through it to see past the time slip to where he really was.

Just as they finished their testing, a small group of guards and one of the large androids arrived outside the door. The group of rebels, along with the Doctor and Rose, could see their arrival on the surveillance screen.

“Are you ready, Rose?” the Doctor asked when he noticed her fiddling with the controls on the device she had constructed.

“Argh! I can't set this time loop accurately enough. I've got it ready to send them into the past, but I can't guarantee a change of location as well. I don't want them coming in here an hour ago and warning the others,” Rose replied frustratedly.

“An hour, you say? I wonder,” Katz interrupted.

“What?” another rebel named Sezon asked.

“Think back to the tunnel when we rescued Peri from the Morlox,” Katz told him.

“You're right. We saw a burning android,” Sezon replied.

“Really? That's promising,” Rose said with a grin and finished her adjustments.

The battle against the guards went mostly as planned. The energy weapon attack from the android, sent the robot back in time and into the tunnels where the rebels had dealt with it earlier. One of the rebels was killed and a second was wounded, but they were victorious overall. The rebels hid while they tended to their wounds and the Doctor and Rose went to find the Borad to deal with him.

“You did try to contact your Doctors some time ago, didn't you?” he asked curiously.

“Yes. A long time ago now, I don't know why they haven't come yet,” Rose confirmed.

“Hmm. I can't remember anything that happened after you disappeared the last time, but there was that distress call right before it all fades out. Perhaps Missy did something that has prevented them from coming,” the Doctor theorized as they suddenly noticed Herbert following them.

Both Rose and the Doctor glared at the man. He was going to get himself killed without a doubt.

“Sorry about this, but I was only getting in the way with the others,” he told them.

“And what makes you think you won't do the same for us?” the Doctor asked incredulously.

“Look, you won't even notice I'm here, I promise,” Herbert pleaded.

“Right, just like all the other times we didn't notice you were there,” Rose groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Alright. If anything happens to us, you're to find Peri,” the Doctor instructed.

“Right. But why don't you send her to go find her?” Herbert asked.

“Because there's a crazy lady here as well as this Borad that is trying to kill the Doctor. I'm here to protect him and I'm not leaving his side. As much as I don't want anything to happen to Peri, the entire universe will be destroyed if the Doctor dies right now. And I don't expect you to understand how or why so just accept it,” Rose told him. It was more condescending than she usually spoke to people, but this man simply wouldn't listen to their repeated warnings and she had lost all patience with him.

“Once we stop this Borad and save Peri, then we can get you back home,” the Doctor added.

“Oh no, don't worry about me, Doctor,” Herbert replied, slightly stunned by Rose's outburst.

“I'm not,” the Doctor grumbled as he took Rose's hand and continued down the corridor. “This looks like it.”

“Grim sort of place,” Herbert commented.

“Precisely why we know this is the place,” Rose told him.

“And this is as far as you go, Herbert,” the Doctor ordered.

“Oh, surely you're not going to deny me the highlight of my visit,” the man pleaded.

“Highlight?! We're likely to be held at gunpoint and have our lives threatened in there, this is no bloody highlight!” Rose glowered at him.

“Come any further and your highlight could be a burial in space, with you playing the central part,” the Doctor added.

“Are you sure I can't be of any help?” Herbert asked hopefully, clearly oblivious to just how dangerous the situation really was.

“If we're not out in ten minutes, find Peri,” the Doctor told him, taking Rose's hand again and preparing to enter the room where they expected to find at least the Borad and likely Missy as well.

“Right,” Herbert agreed.

“Now, find yourself somewhere to hide. Don't want you picked up by the guards,” the Doctor told him as they went through. The doors sealed behind them.

They looked around the darkened room and weren't surprised to see Missy standing nearby, as well as Tekker. The Borad wasn't in sight for the moment.

“My dear Tekker. Still lurking in other people's shadows. How very typical. And the Mistress, about the only good thing I can say regarding your appearance is that for the time being, it means I get to see Rose again,” the Doctor announced.

“Welcome, Doctor,” Tekker responded arrogantly.

Missy stood quietly as she eyed the device around the Doctor's neck and the one in Rose's hands. Clearly evaluating what they were capable of.

“That smell. That bittersweet sickly aroma,” the Doctor prompted.

“Of Morlox,” Tekker supplied.

“Yes, of course. The creatures of the tunnels. I remember now from my last visit. So, your leader is now a Morlox?” the Doctor asked.

“No,” Tekker replied.

“Glad to hear it. From what I remember, the Morlox are not over-endowed with intelligence,” the Doctor told him.

“No, Doctor. The Borad is certainly something more. Almost on par with one of the Rani's experiments you might say,” Missy informed him and a large chair turned to reveal a man that was half human looking and half Morlox. His skin was a dark shade of green, his face partially transformed into a snake-like shape with large, sharp teeth.

“You said he wasn't a Morlox?” the Doctor argued upon seeing him.

“I would guard your tongue, Time Lord,” the Borad warned.

“What I don't understand is how the people of Karfel have accepted you?” the Doctor wondered.

Rose kept a close eye on Missy during all of this discussion. She would not allow them to be caught off guard by the Time Lady, knowing that she really couldn't care less about this dictator's success or failure against the Doctor.

The Borad explained how he used an android with the image of an older human man over the communication screens to address the people, so they had no idea what he looked like. How he had experimented on himself to mix his genetic structure with that of a Morlox to become stronger and more intelligent. And how he was planning to do the same kind of experiment on Peri to make her a suitable mate for himself.

“Half Karfelon, half Morlox, but with increased longevity and massive intellectual growth. A glorious transformation,” the Borad informed them.

“So you keep saying. I don't agree with you,” the Doctor responded.

“Show respect for the Borad,” Tekker argued.

“Oh shut up, you little weasel,” Rose interrupted. “There's a couple of things that I want to know. First, how has Missy here been helping you? And second, what did you do that is keeping my Doctors from joining us?” 

Missy smirked evilly. “Oh, I've helped him make sure that his little experiment on Peri would be more precise in its execution. His original methods were a bit crude and relied too heavily on chance. As for your Doctors, my dear Rose, they seem to be missing this from their TARDIS,” she replied and held up the component that she had removed from the time ship.

“But that's vital to the temporal stabilizers! They can't even dematerialize without that,” the Doctor shouted.

“And they certainly can't go to Gallifrey to replace it, now can they?” Missy sneered.

Rose couldn't contain her giggle at the Mistress' supidity.

“What?” Missy demanded.

“I'll thank you very much for showing us what was missing. Because now, I can send the signal to my Doctors to unlock their memories. They may not be able to go to Gallifrey, but they have an architectural reconfiguration system,” Rose told her and crossed her arms over her chest with a smile.

Missy's face instantly turned from confident superiority to fierce rage. “Perhaps it won't stop them for good, but I'll certainly thank you for this addition to my collection of parts,” she snarled as she snatched the device from Rose's hands and pressed the button on her wrist to disappear further down the Doctor's timeline.

“No!” Rose shouted just before she too disappeared into thin air.

When Rose opened her eyes, she found herself lying on the sidewalk of a dark street. Nearby, several women who looked like refugees from a Jem and the Holograms convention were painting the TARDIS pink. She felt the presence of the Doctor nearby and called for him, ~'You might want to head back to the TARDIS, love. Someone seems to be vandalizing her at the moment.'~


	18. Happiness Patrol: Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't get the Soylent Green reference, it's a cheesy sci-fi movie and I pretty much just gave away the big secret in this... although any google search for those words would give it away as well. Hope you enjoy, I absolutely loved writing the smut.

Chapter Eighteen – Happiness Patrol: Part One

 

 

~'On my way. I can feel who you are to me, but I don't suppose you'd give me your name before I get there?'~ the Doctor replied to her mental contact.

 

~'It's Rose and I'll unlock some memories for you when we get the chance. I've been travelling through your timeline for some time now, love,'~ she informed him and tried to wait out of sight of the women that were painting her beloved time ship.

 

“Professor, what they've done!” Ace shouted as she entered the courtyard with the Doctor.

 

“Yes, it looks good,” the Doctor announced. He was only a little shocked when Rose appeared by his side and took his arm nonchalantly. 

 

“You look rather unhappy about something,” one of the ladies said as she approached them.

 

“On the contrary. Just admiring your handiwork. Huh, miserable looking thing, wasn't it?” the Doctor responded and nodded to Rose, who played along immediately.

 

“Oh, yes, just dreadful,” Rose agreed.

 

Ace seemed quite taken aback by Rose's sudden appearance, so Rose guessed that he hadn't warned her that a friend would be joining them. It would be typical of him not to think of mentioning it.

 

“Our thoughts exactly. And what about you? Are you happy?” the woman asked urgently as she turned a scrutinizing gaze onto Ace.

 

“Oh, I say she is, relatively speaking, given the deeply distressing nature of so many fundamental universal truths,” the Doctor answered for her.

 

“What do you mean?” the woman asked, clearly confused by his babble.

 

“Well, she's happy, this lovely lady is very happy and I'm happy,” he announced, clearly informing his companions of the importance of pretending to be exceedingly happy.

 

“Can't you afford a real gun?” Ace asked the woman, unimpressed by the very large, brightly coloured rifle hanging from her shoulder.

 

The woman responded by using said gun to blast a nearby streetlight. The resulting shower of sparks seemed to prove the weapon's effectiveness.

 

“Well, that is cheerful, isn't it?” Rose responded with a smile.

 

“I'm glad you're happy, but what are you doing here, hmm? You don't look like locals. In fact, you look like killjoys,” she said as she pointed her gun toward each of them in turn.

 

“We're visitors, just here for the night,” the Doctor informed her.

 

“What are killjoys?” Ace asked her.

 

“You must be from off-world. Alright, in future, stay in the specified tourist zones,” she warned them.

 

“Sorry?” the Doctor questioned.

 

“You may go,” the woman told them.

 

“You're not going to arrest us?” the Doctor asked, clearly hopeful of the prospect.

 

“I don't see why.” 

 

“Doctor, they're not going to arrest us,” Ace said, as if it were a horrible insult to be allowed to go free.

 

“Well, that's a switch,” Rose admitted.

 

“Badges,” the Doctor suddenly suggested.

 

“Badges?” Ace repeated.

 

“Yes, I believe all off-world personnel are issued with badges at customs,” the Doctor said decisively.

 

“Yes. Where are your badges?” the woman with pink hair asked them as she turned back authoritatively.

 

“I've got badges,” Ace told her excitedly as she showed off the various patches attached to her jacket.

 

“She's got badges,” the Doctor said with a roll of his eyes.

 

Ace started to name them as she pointed to the various badges, but the woman dismissed her and turned back to the Doctor and Rose. “Not interested. Where are your badges?”

 

“Oh dear, I don't seem to have one. Have you got one, love?” he asked Rose.

 

“No, I don't think I do,” Rose replied.

 

“They are obviously spies. She must be their accomplice. Those two will disappear and she can audition for the Happiness Patrol,” the woman announced and the other women gathered around them with their guns trained on the trio.

 

“What does that mean?” the Doctor asked.

 

“You're under arrest,” she replied.

 

“Phew. About time,” Ace grumbled.

 

They were marched through the dark streets to an area marked off with striped tape along the ground. The Doctor and Rose took advantage of the halt to allow Rose to unlock his memories of their last meetings, including the trial as well. When they both opened their eyes again, he smiled at her and nodded, but didn't wrap her in a hug the way he usually did.

 

“Right, well, we certainly have our work cut out for us, don't we?” he simply stated.

 

Rose felt disappointed by his rather cold reaction to her, but he took her hand then and sent a wave of love and reassurance through their bond. It was enough to tell her that his lack of reaction was due to their circumstances.

 

The Doctor looked around then, and noticed that their entourage seemed to have left and they were standing around with only one woman resembling the ones that had brought them there and a man playing on a slot machine.

 

“I thought we were arrested? I thought we were going to prison?” Ace complained. “And who's she, Professor?”

 

“Ah, Ace, allow me to introduce my wife, Rose,” the Doctor announced with a smile.

 

“Your wife? You never said you had a wife,” Ace nearly shouted.

 

“He doesn't say a lot of things,” Rose told her. “But the main reason that he hasn't mentioned me was that he didn't remember me until just now. We technically haven't met yet.”

 

“What's that supposed to mean?” Ace questioned and crossed her arms.

 

“Well, it's all a bit...” the Doctor began, but wasn't quite sure how to explain it.

 

“Timey-whimey,” Rose supplied with a smirk.

 

“Yeah, I suppose that'll do,” the Doctor said and approached the man playing on the slot machine. “Ah. Hold the two bananas and nudge. Never fails”

 

The man tried to follow the instructions, but didn't win.

 

“Oh, well, can't win them all,” Ace told him.

 

“It's alright. I don't like winning,” the man replied.

 

“Why is that?” Ace wondered.

 

“First of all, I'm a killjoy, and secondly, I don't like the prize,” the man answered grumpily.

 

“Why, what is the prize?” Ace questioned as the man pulled the lever once more and actually won this time.

 

“You're about to find out,” he told her with a cringe.

 

A video began to play on the screen as the prize for winning the game. A woman appeared on the screen, looking much like the women in the Happiness Patrol. She smiled brightly as she said, “Congratulations and well played. Here is your prize joke. Did you hear about the killjoy who won an outing with the Happiness Patrol? He was tickled to death! Enjoy yourself.”

 

“I see what you mean. The delivery's terrible,” the Doctor responded.

 

“The joke's not much good either,” the man added sadly.

 

“This whole place is giving me the creeps,” Rose said as she pulled herself tighter against the Doctor's arm.

 

“The joke is awful. It's tasteless, smug, and worst of all, it's badly constructed, I mean, who writes that stuff?” the Doctor rambled.

 

“I wrote it,” the man replied.

 

“You wrote it?” Ace asked.

 

“I used to be her gag writer, when I was Harold F. Then my brother disappeared. I went to look for him. I heard of other disappearances. They caught me in the rocket port zone, trying to contact Terra Omega, and brought me here where I was regraded to Harold V,” he informed them, indicating the designation on his sleeve. With a sad smile toward the woman nearby, who was holding a tray and just watching them, he returned to playing the game that he didn't want to win.

 

“But what's keeping you here? I mean, why don't we just leave?” Ace asked, not seeing any bars and the patrol that had brought them there was gone.

 

The Doctor decided to find out and approached the woman watching over them. “Excuse me?” he asked.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Is this a prison?” the Doctor questioned her.

 

“A prison? Of course not! This is the Waiting Zone. There aren't any prisons on Terra Alpha. Miserable places,” the woman replied haughtily.

 

“So there's absolutely no chance whatsoever that this could be a place of incarceration, and we're free to leave at any time,” the Doctor deduced and began to lead Rose toward the line on the ground.

 

“Well, yes and no. This isn't a prison, but cross that line and you're a dead man,” she told him as she picked up a gun from the tray in front of her.

 

The Doctor took the warning to heart and immediately spun Rose away from the line and back to the Waiting Zone just in time, as Rose had her foot in the air over it.

 

They talked with Harold for a while. He was able to tell them that people were punished for doing anything that wasn't considered happy. Wearing dark clothes, listening to slow music, walking in the rain if you were alone and without an umbrella, were all things that were considered against the rules. A woman named Helen A was in charge of it all and no one would stand up to her because they were afraid of the Happiness Patrol.

 

“Bunch of ratbags,” Ace grumbled about the pink-haired, gun-toting Happiness Patrol that had brought them here.

 

“Ratbags with guns,” the Doctor reminded her.

 

“The Happiness Patrol were the nice side of her regime. Do you know who the Kandyman is, Doctor?” Harold asked.

 

“He sounds like a sweetie,” the Doctor replied sarcastically.

 

“He's dangerous,” Harold told them.

 

“In what way?” Rose questioned worriedly.

 

“He's doing experiments. That's why we're here. He needs guinea pigs. Guinea pigs like you and me,” Harold explained.

 

“What sort of experiments?” Ace wondered.

 

“I can't find out,” Harold admitted.

 

“What else does he do, this Kandyman?” the Doctor asked.

 

“He makes sweets.”

 

“You don't think he's turning people into sweets or something do you?” Rose whispered and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

 

“No, I don't think we've entered Soylent Green territory, Rose. But I'm sure the results of the experiments are rather unpleasant since the people are never seen again,” the Doctor replied.

 

“So you reckon the Kandyman's the one behind the disappearances?” Ace asked Harold.

 

“One of the ones. There are three ways of disappearing on Terra Alpha. The Late Show at the Forum, a visit to the Kandy Kitchen, and something else,” Harold answered.

 

“What sort of something else?” Ace wondered.

 

“I don't know, exactly. Rumour has it that Helen A favours the firing squad.”

 

“Time we moved on, Professor?” Ace asked.

 

“Well, we have a night's work ahead of us and I think we've learned enough,” the Doctor acknowledged.

 

“Ace. Prison break,” Ace whispered happily.

 

“A fairly easy one, by our standards too,” Rose added.

 

“Waiting zone break, but I think we'll take our new found friend with us,” the Doctor told them quietly, to avoid being overheard by their Happiness Patrol guard.

 

“What's that?” Harold asked.

 

“We're going to escape!” Ace said excitedly, almost loud enough to be heard. Rose loved a good escape too, but discretion was the better part of valour.

 

“Shush!” the Doctor warned her.

 

“There is no escape,” Harold moaned and went back to his game. It was only a moment later when Harold was lethally electrocuted by the machine and he fell to the ground in a heap.

 

“I think he got a buzz out of that,” their guard laughed at her own pun.

 

“Shut up!” Ace shouted.

 

“Why you little...” Rose began and stomped toward the woman, only to be held back by the Doctor.

 

“Hold it, ladies,” the Doctor warned them.

 

“Rather a shocking experience,” the woman continued to taunt them.

 

“Let me shut her up!” Ace fumed.

 

“Save it, save it. You can't run. You're no good to me like this,” the Doctor told Ace, trying to calm her down.

 

Rose got her own emotions under control. As annoying and cruel as the woman was, she wasn't the one they had to stop in the end. She started considering options to incapacitate her so they could escape.

 

“I want to nail those scumbags. I want to make them very, very unhappy,” Ace grumbled.

 

“Don't worry, Ace, we will,” the Doctor placated her for the moment.

 

A group of Happiness Patrol guards arrived on a little electric car. They picked up Harold's body to take it away and left the car parked there for the time being.

 

~'Think it's got some security measures on it?'~ Rose asked him.

 

~'Most likely. One way to find out,'~ the Doctor replied and walked over to their guard. “Tell me...”

 

“Yes?” she asked.

 

“I was wondering about your go-cart,” the Doctor began.

 

“It's not my go-cart, it's the Waiting Zone's go-cart,” she corrected.

 

“Yes. I was wondering, if we were to get into it and drive off, what would you do?” he asked.

 

“Nothing,” she replied.

 

“Nothing?” he confirmed.

 

“Nothing.”

 

“Wouldn't raise the alarm? Shoot us?” he questioned. She had indicated before that she would shoot them if they tried to walk away.

 

“Nothing,” the pink haired woman repeated smugly.

 

He walked back to where Rose and Ace were standing near the car. “You're right. It's booby-trapped.”

 

“Let me at it, love,” Rose said as she pulled her sonic screwdriver out of her pocket.

 

“By all means,” he said with a smile.

 

“What's she gonna do with that?” Ace whispered to him.

 

“Rose is a bit of an expert when it comes to this sort of thing,” the Doctor replied as he watched his future wife easily disable all of the security measures, including a bomb attached to the car. It was all done very discreetly using her sonic. She didn't even have to touch the vehicle.

 

Rose nodded to them when she was done. Ace quickly sat in the driver's seat while the Doctor and Rose climbed onto the back of the car.

 

“What are you doing?” the guard called to them.

 

“Nothing,” the Doctor responded, mimicking her earlier answers regarding the car.

 

“You're not thinking of starting that?” the woman questioned.

 

“No,” Ace told her.

 

“Are you sure?” she asked.

 

“Absolutely sure,” Rose replied with a smile.

 

The car started and Ace drove off. The guard behind them seemed shocked that they were able to drive away with it safely and probably called the other patrols to hunt for them. It wasn't long before their vehicle broke down, however, and Rose set to work on it with her husband. Ace kept watch, but they could hear the Happiness Patrol getting closer.

 

“Any luck, Professor?” Ace asked them worriedly.

 

“I'm afraid we're going to need a little more time,” the Doctor admitted.

 

“You've got it,” Ace said quickly as she ran off to distract the patrol.

 

“I've got it, Doctor!” Rose cheered happily as she looked up. “Where'd she go?”

 

“Ace?” he called. “At least the Happiness Patrol left us in peace. Ace?” he shouted again, but there was no reply.

 

“I think we've got company, love,” Rose told him and hopped on the back of the car again as he dove for the driver's seat and got them away from the approaching guards.

 

The next time that the car came to a stop, it was smoking. “I think it's time that you and I found ourselves some privacy,” the Doctor announced, rolling his R dramatically.

 

Rose was used to Evander's Scottish accent, but this Doctor's was slightly different. He seemed more formal than any of her Doctors. He found a secluded alleyway and despite the fact that they could still hear the patrols passing by every once in a while, he pressed her against the wall in a passionate kiss.

 

“I was starting to wonder if this version of you wasn't quite so happy that I was here,” Rose gasped when he finally released her from the kiss.

 

"Oh, I have plans, love," the Doctor whispered with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. He didn't dare raise his voice any louder or they might be discovered.

 

"I don't suppose those plans would include your latest scarf?" she teased and tugged on the ends of the paisley fabric that dangled from his shoulders. Rose pulled him in for a kiss, which he granted happily.

 

"No, my dear. You see, when you're restrained, you can let yourself go completely. Allow everything to fly apart. What I want from you today, will take much more effort on your part," he informed her.

 

"Really? So, I'm doing all the work this time?" she wondered as she considered this incarnation. She didn't think that was quite his style, but she needed to hear more of his plans to be sure.

 

"Not remotely. Your task will be to do absolutely nothing," he said with a heated gaze. "No matter what I do to you, you shall not move. You shall not make a sound, else we might be found by the guards. And... you are not permitted to come until I say so."

 

A shiver ran through her at the thought of his demands. Oh, the things he would do to try and make her give in. "And what happens if I break the rules?" she whispered breathlessly.

 

"Let's hope you don't need to find out. I'd really rather not have to resort to any kind of... discipline," he replied and licked his lips. "Now, hands behind your back and keep them there. Move your feet apart a bit more. Stop. You are not to move from this point onward. You may answer me with a yes or no, but only telepathically. No sounds or you will feel something rather unpleasant. I won't hurt you, love, but you really wouldn't like it, so I suggest you behave," he instructed and bopped her on the nose before giving her a sweet kiss.

 

He began by unbuttoning her blouse, then ran his fingers gently along the edge of her bra teasingly. She smiled at him, but his face remained one of intense concentration. He tugged the cup of her bra down so that her breast was revealed and immediately began to suck harshly on his prize. Rose instinctually gasped and thrust her chest towards him in encouragement, but she instantly felt a horrible emptiness as the Doctor shielded his mind from hers and closed their link almost completely. She winced and shrank back away from him.

 

"I told you that you wouldn't like it. You are not to move. It will take concentration and control. I know you can do this. And believe me, the rewards will be worth it," he whispered to her urgently as he slowly eased their bond back to normal.

 

Rose calmed her breathing and nodded back to him. They had never done anything like this before, but she was certainly willing to try. She concentrated on holding her body still and just feeling what he was doing.

 

Satisfied that Rose had the idea of the game now, the Doctor resumed his exploration of her breasts with his mouth, while his hands got to work on removing her knickers from beneath her skirt. He slid them down to her knees and decided that was far enough or he would have to move her again. Slipping his fingers into her, he could tell she was battling the urge to moan, but only released a breathy sigh. He rewarded her control with a mental caress as well as a physical one.

 

She clasped her hands together behind her back, resisting the urge to plunge her fingers into his hair as she usually did. Still and quiet were her focus, but maintaining those when he was swirling his tongue around her nipples like that and rubbing her clit just so, were getting more and more difficult.

 

His kisses began to drift down her stomach as he moved down to his knees in front of her. He had plans to give to her what she had done to him in that closet in Paris so long ago. She hadn't been quite as demanding as he was being, at the time regarding silence, but he had learned a little about the kinds of sexual play that humans engaged in over the years. This was definitely something he felt he would enjoy and hoped he could make it worth her while as well.

 

Finally reaching his destination, the Doctor continued with his fingers inside her while he used his tongue to stimulate her clitoris. Rose almost slipped by making happy noises again, but instead, let slip a few memories about what her future husbands did during these activities that she loved. He used those pleasant memories to guide his actions towards her preferred rhythms and techniques, deciding that, yes, he definitely liked this game.

 

Rose fought with the overwhelming urge to roll her hips against him and throw her head back wantonly. Instead, she focused on holding herself absolutely still and sending some extremely elicit thoughts in his direction. She could feel her legs begin to tremble as she got closer to the edge.

 

~'You may not come until I say so,'~ he reminded her without pausing his ministrations.

 

Her thoughts stuttered at that. She had forgotten that rule and had been allowing herself to enjoy this far too much. She was almost too far gone now to hold it back, but took a deep shuddering breath to try and calm herself.

 

~'Very good, love. Oh, you taste divine. Why do we ever get out of bed in your time?'~ he praised her silently. ~'Do you like this, darling girl?'~ the Doctor asked, knowing he had given her permission to answer yes or no.

 

~'Yes,'~ she replied silently, but allowed the response to carry with it the moan that she wanted to release verbally.

 

Not wanting to make her wait too long with this first trial of the game, he unfastened his trousers and gave her one last intimate kiss before standing again. "Keep your hands behind you, lean against the wall and when I lift you off the ground, wrap your legs around my hips," he instructed.

 

~'No,'~ she responded and he gave her a dangerous look, but she followed her reply with the image of her knickers still around her knees, restraining her legs.

 

"Ah, quite right," he realized and proceeded to pull them back up instead of taking them off. He pushed them to the side, just as he had the last time they met and he had taken her against the console. "Can you follow my instructions now?"

 

~'Yes,'~ she sighed into his mind, the lust accompanying it, nearly breaking his own control.

 

He pressed his lips against hers as he lifted her feet off the ground and encouraged her to wrap her legs around him. He lowered her onto him and pressed her harder against the wall. She sighed quietly into his ear as she dropped her head onto his shoulder. He permitted the movement, knowing that it was taking all of her efforts now to keep from crashing into her orgasm. But the Doctor wanted them to go together. ~'Soon, love. Hold on,'~ he reassured her.

 

Rose was holding on by a thread and loving every second of it. The excitement of this game, the thrill of possibly getting caught at any second, and the passion she felt from him flowing through her link with this past version of her husbands was almost more than she could bear. His strong hands were pinning her hips in place against the wall as he started thrusting into her. He was close too, she could feel it and held herself on the edge, just waiting for that permission that she knew would come soon.

 

In no time, his breathing became ragged and he gasped into her ear, "Now, Rose."

 

She clenched around him fiercely, her mouth open in a silent scream and he poured himself into her roughly as he fell with her. Their arms wrapped around each other as soon as it was over and they both collapsed on the ground. Gasping for breath, they looked at each other with mischievous grins.

 

“I think I ought to let my Doctors know where I am. We're on the run and we've lost Ace. We still haven't seen where Missy is and she's got that crystal to add to whatever kind of device she's trying to assemble,” Rose rambled once her hearts had slowed and they had readjusted their clothing.

 

“You're probably right. They'll be worried, especially since they couldn't get to you at all during our last encounter,” the Doctor admitted, although he was fairly sure that they wouldn't be entirely happy with the way his sexual relations with her had gone recently. It had been spectacular for him, but he could tell from Rose's reactions that his future incarnations didn't play with her in that way. At least not yet.

 

Rose sent the signal through her link to the Doctors of her own timeline. She was sure that it probably took them several hours to manufacture and replace the part that Missy had stolen, but it was only a minute later that they heard the sound of the TARDIS materializing inside the very alley where they were hiding.


	19. Happiness Patrol: Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long. I got a bit stuck on it, but that's taken care of... Now we can move on to velvet and curls!

Chapter Nineteen – Happiness Patrol: Part Two

 

 

The doors opened with a squeak and Alex burst through them to lift Rose into a spinning hug. “Oh, my love,” he mumbled into her neck.

 

The seventh Doctor watched them with a smile until he noticed Evander glaring at him from the doorway. He raised an eyebrow at him in response.

 

“Don't you dare pretend that you don't know why I am bloody furious with you right now,” Evander growled.

 

“What? What's the matter?” Rose questioned, fighting to get a little breathing room in Alex's arms.

 

“I'm sure I don't know what you mean,” the Doctor replied haughtily.

 

“Cutting off her bond like that?! What were you thinking? You could have killed her! Or at least done some serious damage,” Evander raged.

 

“Would you keep your voice down? Or at least let's take this inside the TARDIS? I don't think you want to bring the Happiness Patrol down on our heads,” he urged them in a hushed tone. They had gone to enough lengths not to be heard so far, there was no sense in spoiling those efforts now.

 

“Fine,” Evander snapped and gestured to the open door of the TARDIS to indicate that he expected everyone inside immediately.

 

Once they had all gotten inside, and Rose had managed to extricate herself from Alex's grasp, she turned to glare at all three of them. “Now, someone explain to me what exactly the issue is here,” she said and crossed her arms.

 

“He could have caused permanent damage...” Evander began, angrily pointing at his past incarnation.

 

“She still had her connections to both of you, no matter how distant you may have been,” the Doctor argued.

 

“And what if you had closed it off too far? What if you damaged the connection permanently by shutting it down like that? There's a reason why it hurts, you know!” Alex interjected into the argument.

 

“I was in complete control of the situation, I assure you,” the Doctor responded confidently.

 

“Oh really?” Evander questioned, his doubt in the other Doctor's abilities quite clear.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Alright! That's enough!” Rose shouted. “I'm fine. If it was dangerous, then it's over now and it won't happen again. I trust you. Every version of you, love. You can think of another disciplinary measure to use the next time and for now, we learn from it.”

 

All of the Doctors looked suitably chastised for the argument. Alex grasped her hand shyly and Evander moved to give her a kiss, since he didn't get one earlier, due to Alex attacking her. He held her upper arms in his grasp tightly for a moment as he pressed his forehead against hers. She could feel his worry for her safety. From the cutting off of their bond of course, but also of the danger that they were dealing with on this planet.

 

“We've got a lot to deal with here, now we ought to figure out what we're going to do about it. We have to rescue Ace, stop this Helen A, and do something about the Kandyman,” Rose suggested.

 

“Ace won't recognize the two of you, so it makes sense that I'd go after Ace. What do you remember about what is happening here?” the Doctor asked.

 

“I know from the rest of this adventure that Rose isn't going to leave you while Missy is about and if you think I'm going to leave her alone with _you_ again, you are mistaken,” Evander growled at his past self.

 

“You're being ridiculous. You know I'd never harm Rose,” the Doctor argued.

 

“Enough! Don't start all this again. So we all stick together then. Which of our problems are we taking care of first?” Rose interrupted.

 

“From my memory, we investigated the Kandyman first,” Alex interjected.

 

“Ah yes, with that blues musician,” Evander agreed.

 

“Alright, but first we need information so that we can find this Kandyman,” the past Doctor told them and headed for the doors. 

 

It was obvious that he was angry with them for not trusting him with Rose. He stormed down the dark street with a scowl on his face. Alex, Evander, and Rose followed but were slightly behind since they stopped to put the TARDIS out of sync again as a precautionary measure. By the time they caught up with him, he was sitting on a bench in conversation with someone. When it was apparent that the man was about to turn him over to the Happiness Patrol, the past Doctor was saved by a dark skinned man in a fedora.

 

“You must be a musician,” the Doctor said.

 

“Sort of,” the young man replied with a smile.

 

“Your timing's good,” the Doctor teased.

 

“We'd better go,” the man told him and urged him back into the alley.

 

Rose, Alex, and Evander joined them before introductions were made.

 

“I'm the Doctor,” said the shortest incarnation present.

 

“Oi!” Alex protested.

 

“That's Alex, Evander, and Rose,” the past Doctor insisted.

 

Rose could feel her Doctors bristling over the treatment they were receiving from their past incarnation and wondered if this version of themselves did something they weren't proud of. They seemed very mistrusting of him ever since their arrival.

 

“Earl Sigma,” the young man told them.

 

“A subtle musician,” the Doctor acknowledged.

 

“No, I'm really a medical student, fifth year post-med psychology,” Earl explained.

 

“What does the Sigma stand for?” the Doctor wondered.

 

“It stands for alien. All visitors are called Sigma,” Earl replied.

 

“Ooh, so we're all Sigmas today. Though you boys have told me you didn't like Theta Sigma,” Rose commented.

 

“We don't,” Alex and Evander grumbled at the same time.

 

“And you're travelling through the colonies,” the past Doctor continued trying to gain as much information as he could, ignoring the others almost completely.

 

“I'm on vacation. Paid my way with music and I sort of got stuck here,” Earl told them.

 

“It's an interesting planet from a psychological standpoint,” the Doctor commented.

 

“Yeah. We gotta go,” Earl said as they heard the Happiness Patrol getting closer to their location.

 

“This way, all of you. We've got a kitchen to crash,” Alex called as he led them towards the Kandy Kitchen where they could deal with the Kandyman.

 

~'Is he angry with me?'~ Rose asked her husbands silently. She was watching the past incarnation of the Doctor walking with Earl and nearly ignoring the future trio entirely.

 

~'No, he's angry with us. He wants to be alone with you like the last time and the fact that we don't trust him is infuriating,'~ Alex answered.

 

When they reached the kitchen, Evander held Rose back from following. The past Doctor glared at him.

 

“Look, we can watch from here what is happening and if you need rescuing, the three of us can jump in and help. You two go... investigate,” Evander told him, pulling Rose and Alex into a secluded corner.

 

“Fine,” the Doctor snapped at him.

 

“What is this place?” Earl questioned, trying to stay out of whatever argument the men were having.

 

“I believe it's where they make sweets,” the Doctor replied as they explored the room.

 

They hid under a table when they heard someone coming, but it wasn't long before the two of them were captured by a man dressed as a chef and the Kandyman himself. He was tall and appeared to be made from various oversized sweets. His movements were awkward, but threatening. The Doctor and Earl were both restrained in chairs as the Kandyman explained that his plans were to kill people with sweets while he was employed at Helen A's executioner. The man that was helping him was named Gilbert M and they wondered at why he would assist the vile creature.

 

~'Shouldn't we help them?'~ Rose questioned her husbands who were simply watching.

 

~'He was captured on purpose. You know that, darling. This is information gathering. Once he's got all the information he needs from the Kandyman, we can get them out of there,'~ Evander replied.

 

The captured Doctor managed to get the Kandyman to explain how they piped what they called Fondant Surprise onto the prisoners to smother them. They learned where the controls for the process were and the Doctor proceeded to start looking for weaknesses in his adversary.

 

“You said soft centre?” the Doctor asked.

 

“Did I?” the Kandyman responded as he checked over his confections.

 

“Yes, you said soft centre instead of heart. What is your heart made of?” the Doctor questioned him.

 

“Difficult to say. It's all in there somewhere. Caramel, sherbet, toffee, marzipan, gelling agents, it's all in motion,” the Kandyman explained.

 

“Ah! A movable feast, eh?” the Doctor teased.

 

“Very droll, Doctor,” the Kandyman replied.

 

“So you're perfectly adapted to your environment,” the Doctor continued in the voice Rose knew meant that he was about to turn things around in his favour.

 

“Perfectly.”

 

“Protected against everything. That is, except from the intense heat from that open oven behind you,” the Doctor concluded.

 

“What?” the Kandyman roared and turned to look towards the oven.

 

It was at that moment, that Alex and Evander jumped in and grabbed a container of lemonade, using the substance to make the Kandyman's feet melt slightly and stick to the floor. Rose ran to release the Doctor and Earl from their bonds and all of them escaped down a grate into the sewers, while the Kandyman bellowed for Gilbert to save him.

 

“Thank you for the timely intervention,” the Doctor acknowledged.

 

“You're welcome. Now, can you stop being such a grump? You're upsetting Rose,”Evander replied.

 

“Grump? You're one to talk..” the Doctor began to argue, but Rose put herself between them, with a hand on each man's chest.

 

“Enough! Honestly, with the way you two are behaving, I'm starting to think the laws about pretending to be happy might be a good idea,” Rose chastised.

 

“I almost agree with you, but we all need to keep our voices down,” Alex told them as he pointed to the sugar crystal stalactites above them.

 

“What's all that?” Earl asked.

 

“It's crystallized sugar. This pipe must have carried some sort of syrup,” the Doctor answered, examining the walls closely.

 

“Smells a bit off,” Rose commented as she looked at the dusty coating over the sticky walls.

 

“Indeed, so we can assume that nothing's been pumped down here for some time. I wonder why?” the Doctor pondered.

 

“Doesn't matter. Let's keep moving and keep quiet unless you want to be buried in sugar crystals,” Evander interjected and tugged Rose with him down the sewer tunnels.

 

They came across some of the native creatures to the planet that were hiding in the sewers ever since the humans had colonized the planet. They were slightly primitive and used spears, but were friendly to them and willing to help rescue Ace whom they had seen being held prisoner. Alex and Evander knew that there would be plenty to keep Ace busy from their memories of events, so were content to let the little aliens go get her out of whatever mess she was currently in.

 

Meanwhile, their little group got out of the pipes at just the right point to find a man the past Doctor had met just before Rose arrived. He had a clipboard and was taking down information very studiously.

 

“Name?” he asked.

 

“I'm the Doctor. Have we met?” the Doctor asked him.

 

“I'm sorry, that's classified information,” the man replied gravely.

 

“What?” Rose squeaked while Alex and Evander just chuckled at the interation.

 

“You're Trevor Sigma, aren't you?” the Doctor queried, making the man quite uncomfortable.

 

“Galactic Census Bureau. I ask the questions,” he replied.

 

“You ask the questions?” the Doctor wondered.

 

“I'm sorry, that's classified information. Address?” Trevor Sigma continued with his survey.

 

“Which one?” the Doctor responded.

 

“If you live here, I need a town and street. If you're an alien, I need a home planet except when you spend more than half of the working year away, in which case I need a planet of origin,” Trevor explained.

 

“That's classified information. Name?” the Doctor countered, once again leaving Trevor flustered.

 

“What?”

 

“I ask the questions,” the Doctor insisted. “Name?”

 

“Trevor Sigma,” he answered.

 

“Address?” the Doctor continued.

 

“Galactic Centre,” Trevor told him.

 

“What's happening?” Earl whispered to the others.

 

“Questionnaire,” Alex replied with his hands in his pockets. He rocked on his heels as he amusedly watched the past Doctor deal with bureaucracy.

 

“Occupation?” the seventh Doctor questioned.

 

“Galactic Census Bureau, authorized to enter all Alphan property and to interview all Alphans,” Trevor answered nervously.

 

“Good. Take me to the leader,” the Doctor replied.

 

“Got places to go, Doctor,” Earl told him before they started off again.

 

“I'll find you later,” the Doctor replied.

 

“How?” Earl wondered.

 

“The brandy of the damned,” the Doctor answered.

 

“Oh, the blues. You're a nice bunch, y'all, but a little weird,” Earl told them and walked off, playing blues on his harmonica.

 

“Enough of the little,” the Doctor countered, making Rose giggle. He smiled at her response.

 

“That's nice,” Trevor said about the music Earl was playing. “It makes me feel sort of, er, sort of..”

 

“Melancholy?” Evander suggested.

 

“Yes, that's it. A pleasant melancholy,” Trevor agreed.

 

The Doctor took Trevor's arm to see Helen A and finally confront her about the executions and disappearances of the people on the Terra Alpha. They were led in to see Helen A by an elderly gentleman.

 

“Will you come this way, please? It's Trevor Sigma, dear, and er... guests?” the man announced before leaving the room again and closing the door behind him.

 

They were not surprised to see Missy sitting with Helen A for tea when they arrived.

 

“I'm glad to see you again, Trevor. I don't think I've had the pleasure,” Helen A said with a saccharine smile, gesturing towards the Doctors and Rose.

 

“It's no pleasure, I can assure you. Especially seeing the company you keep,” the past Doctor replied curtly with a glare at the Time Lady.

 

“So nice to see you Doctors, Rose,” Missy acknowledged them with a nod. “It took you long enough, I must say. I've been waiting here for ages.”

 

“Waiting? I thought you had a little project to keep you busy,” Rose responded as they all ignored Helen A.

 

“Oh, this old thing?” she replied as she held up her cobbled together device proudly. “All finished. I had hoped to watch Helen's precious Kandyman bury you all in sugary goo, but I guess I'll just have to go about it the old fashioned way,” she told them as she pulled a blaster out of her pocket.

 

Rose positioned herself in front of the seventh Doctor, preventing Missy from having a clear shot at him.

 

“Well, I never,” Helen A interrupted. “None of you seem very happy at all right now. I'm afraid I must call the Happiness Patrol at once.”

 

“Oh, stuff it, pinky,” Missy snapped. “This is what I came for and it will make me very happy. So go find your little pet before Ace blows it up and I'll be sure to execute all of these unhappy people very thoroughly.”

 

“This is outrageous,” Helen protested and left the room for her office where she was presumably calling for her Happiness Patrol.

 

“You there, Trevor person or whatever she called you, you can leave before I kill you,” Missy dismissed the terrified man. She seemed to want to have a private discussion before enacting her plan. Which of course, gave them the time to figure out how to escape. Missy was always rather predictable that way. “At last we are alone. I am running out of chances to prevent the war, so we'd best get this over with, hadn't we?”

 

“Why this obsession, Missy? Surely you have better things you could be doing than trying to destroy me,” the past Doctor pleaded.

 

“Not really. With Gallifrey gone, what else is there?” Missy replied.

 

“What do you mean gone? I know you all keep talking about a war, but how can Gallifrey be gone?” the Doctor argued.

 

“You don't want to know. Just trust us, please. Missy, stop this. What then? What do you do when I'm gone if there's nothing better to do?” Alex interrupted.

 

“With Gallifrey back in the universe, I could spend all my time toying with them. Wouldn't that be nice?” she replied.

 

“But you told me that you knew where it was. It wasn't destroyed, I know that now, so why not use all or your skills to bring it back that way?” Evander suggested.

 

“After the war? You know what they all turned into. Why would I want it back with Rassilon's corruption? They were all ready to follow him into oblivion, you know that, Doctor. No, I want them before the war. Weak and gullible, with no idea how to fight back,” Missy responded with a sneer.

 

“Well, I can tell you right now, that I'm not going to allow you to harm my Doctor in any way,” Rose shouted angrily.

 

“You have no way to stop me,” Missy retorted and held her blaster higher.

 

It was at that moment that the Happiness Patrol burst through the doors. They stormed the surprised occupants of the room and in an angry huff, Missy pressed the button of the device on her wrist before she could be arrested. Rose disappeared with a growl of frustration and all of the Doctors grumbled unhappily.

 

“Come on you killjoys, you're all under arrest,” the leader of the Happiness Patrol announced.

 

“Killjoys? I'm not a killjoy. I'm as happy as can be, aren't you, Doctor?” Alex asked his past self with a broad grin, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

 

“Yes, exceedingly happy. Wouldn't dream of ever being anything but. How about you, Doctor?” the past incarnation asked Evander with a smirk.

 

“Oh, I'm just peachy. Never better, I mean what could possibly make me unhappy right now?” Evander replied sarcastically with what could only pass as a grimace.

 

“I'm glad you're happy. But be that as it may, Helen A has ordered all of you arrested and escorted to the execution yard,” she replied.

 

While they were being escorted, a quick visit by their alien friends from the tunnels managed to free them rather effectively. With curt goodbyes, the past Doctor went off to rescue Ace, while Alex and Evander quickly got back to their TARDIS. As they left Terra Alpha, their memories unlocked of Rose's next visit.

 

“Christmas again?” Evander groaned.

 

“Won't do any harm. We'll have to be on our best behaviour around Susan and her son. Might be best not to tell them about our new names? Just pretend that we're from different points in the timeline as well? Little Alex would never understand the split,” Alex suggested.

 

“You might be right,” Evander agreed. “Let's get going then. I have no idea how Missy would have gotten involved in that holiday.”


	20. Relative Dimensions: Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me a bit to get this one done. I got a bit stuck on the eighth Doctor. As much as I love him, I haven't listened to the radio plays, so I don't know him as well as I'd like. I hope you like this. And I'm well over my writer's block now... working a couple chapters ahead of this now because I'm getting into the big ideas that I have for them!!

Chapter Twenty – Relative Dimensions: Part One

 

Rose stumbled and fell to the ground again as she appeared in yet another part of the Doctor's life. “Oh, this is really getting on my nerves,” she grumbled and looked around, trying to get her bearings.

 

“Rose? Good gracious!” a woman shouted nearby and Rose turned to see an older looking Susan running towards her, a young man following closely. “Are you alright? How on Earth did you get here?”

 

“Susan? Where am I? Got here the same way I got onto the TARDIS the last time I saw you,” Rose answered, shaking her head to clear it.

 

“You're on Earth, twenty-second century. You didn't know how you got onto the TARDIS last time,” Susan replied, knowing exactly what kind of information a lost time-traveller would need.

 

“Right, sorry about that. I gather since you recognize me that he didn't wipe your memories of our last meeting?” Rose asked and at Susan's nod, continued, “Well, Missy, the latest incarnation of the Master? You saw her on the screen last time. She has been pulling me though the Doctor's timeline as she tries to kill him in his past. This should be the eighth Doctor now, yes?”

 

“Well, I hope so. I've missed so many of them and it seems like Grandfather has a different face every time I see him. This is my son, Alex, by the way,” Susan told her proudly.

 

“It's very nice to meet you, Alex. Goodness, that would make me your Step-Great-Grandmother? Honestly, what I get for marrying an older man!” Rose laughed.

 

“Well, I don't know what to even call him, so I certainly have no idea what you call you,” Alex grumbled.

 

“How about Rose, then?” she suggested with a friendly smile. She didn't remember the Doctor mentioning that Susan had a son. She guessed that meant that something painful had happened to him, but she wouldn't press him for that information if he didn't want to talk about it.

 

“Why don't you just call him Great-Grandfather? That's what he is after all,” Susan told him with a roll of her eyes. This must be an old argument.

 

“No, it feels weird,” he complained.

 

“Doctor?” Rose suggested.

 

“Ugh..” he scoffed.

 

“Well, whatever feels right when he gets here. You'll think of something,” Susan acquiesced.

 

“You mean, _if_ he gets here,” Alex challenged as only a teenager can.

 

“Oh, don't worry about that, Alex. I'm being pulled through his timeline. If I'm here, then he won't be far behind,” Rose reassured him.

 

It was only another moment before they heard the TARDIS materializing nearby. It landed with a thud on the opposite side of the road and the trio crossed over just as the doors were opened by someone Rose did recognize from the Doctor's shared memories. Her name was Lucie Miller and her presence confirmed that it was the eighth Doctor that would be inside.

 

“Susan, there you are. And Alex. Come in, both of you,” the Doctor called from the console room. “And who is...? Oh my word,” he gaped as he looked at Rose and his brow furrowed.

 

“I gather that this isn't the version of Grandfather that is current for you then, Grandmother Rose?” Susan asked cheekily.

 

Rose laughed and walked towards one of her favourite incarnations of her husband. “No, Susan. I first met the tenth and this is only number eight. I'll need to unlock some memories for you, love,” Rose explained and a small smile spread across the Doctor's face.

 

Rose placed her fingers against his temples and they both closed their eyes for a moment. She unlocked all of their previous meetings, including their little game and kiss in Sardicktown right after he had left Grace. Just as Rose was about to open her eyes, she found herself pulled into a fierce kiss by the man in front of her. She squeaked in surprise, but quickly caught up.

 

“Um... did you say, Grandfather?” Lucie questioned Susan.

 

“Yes,” Susan laughed as she watched the couple kissing and blushed. “And Rose is his wife from the future who has been pulled along his timeline by someone who is trying to kill him... again,” Susan explained to Lucie.

 

The Doctor broke off the kiss with a smile and wrapped an arm around Rose's waist as he turned to properly greet his guests. “So sorry about that. It's been a while since I've seen my lovely wife.”

 

“Oh, happy Christmas, Grandfather,” Susan said with a bright smile.

 

“Dear Susan. You see, I promised I'd come back,” he told her.

 

“Mm, it's wonderful to see you again. And the same you too,” she teased.

 

“Er, same as last time, yes. That must be a bit of a novelty. Hello, Alex. I'm delighted to see you too. Welcome back to the TARDIS,” he replied. This incarnation had seemed so light and playful to Rose the last time she had met him, but there was something weighing heavily on him now. Perhaps the others wouldn't see it, but she could, and she could feel it.

 

“Hi, erm, Granddad,” Alex said, still unsure of what title to use with the man who looked the same age or younger than his mother.

 

“I'd best inform my Doctors of where I am, love,” Rose told him and closed her eyes as she sent the signal to them along her bond.

 

“Doctors?” Susan wondered.

 

“Um, best let them explain when they get here?” Rose suggested.

 

“Yes, well, this will be a lovely little get together now, won't it, Lucie?” the Doctor asked cheerily. “Oh, how rude of me. Susan, Alex, Rose, this is Lucie Miller who's travelling with me.”

 

“Am I?” Lucie asked.

 

Rose deduced that she hadn't been recently and the Doctor was hoping that she'd come back with him for a while. She felt a wave of loneliness crash over him and she squeezed his hand supportively. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Lucie. And yes, Doctor, we'll have a proper holiday celebration. All we need are your mum and Brax here,” she teased with a wink.

 

“I cannot believe that you would want to spend any more time than necessary with Braxiatel,” he replied and bopped her on the nose. “So, Lucie, this is Susan, my Granddaughter, and Alex, my Great-Grandson. And, as explained, this is Rose, my wife from the future.”

 

“Are you forgetting us?” came a voice from the TARDIS doors.

 

Rose turned to see her husbands leaning against the walls expectantly. She grinned and ran into Alex's open arms. He spun her around happily before placing her back on the floor, where she was quickly spun into the arms of Evander, who gave her a kiss on the cheek.

 

~'We don't want to confuse little Alex any more than necessary. Let's just stick with telling him that we're from different time points rather than explaining the meta-crisis to him?'~ Evander suggested telepathically.

 

Rose nodded and passed the message along to the past Doctor, since he couldn't hear them. They each took one of her arms and led Rose back towards the waiting group.

 

“A proper little family reunion, isn't it?” Evander said.

 

“Who are they?” young Alex asked.

 

“They are both the Doctor,” Rose explained. “You know that he can change his face if he's about to die? Well, these are number eleven and thirteen,” she continued, fudging the numbers a little bit, but they were his eleventh and thirteenth faces. Susan would know something was wrong if she said that Evander was in fact the fourteenth incarnation of the Doctor, due to the complication of the meta-crisis.

 

“Ugh. As if it wasn't hard enough to know what to call you, now there's three of you?” Alex complained.

 

“Ah, don't worry about it. You call 'Doctor' or 'Grandfather' or 'Great-Grandfather' and any one of us will do,” Doctor Alex told the young Alex. He hadn't even considered the fact that his Great-Grandson had the same name. He loved him dearly, but knew him for such a short period of time before the tragedy that would befall him while fighting the Daleks.

 

They all admired the gothic interior of the TARDIS console room before going to the library to sit down. Alex and Lucie went to the galley to get some refreshments for everyone.

 

Rose sat on the couch, snuggled between the eighth Doctor and Alex, leaving Evander scowling in the nearby chair. Susan laughed at his affronted expression and asked, “Alright, who's going to explain now?”

 

“It's rather complicated, Susan. Are you sure you want the whole story?” Rose questioned.

 

“I'm sure you can give me an abridged version,” she replied.

 

“Did you want an explanation of the situation with Missy or the fact that Rose has two of us following her?” Alex asked pointedly.

 

“Rose told me that Missy is dragging her through your timeline to try and kill you in the past. That probably explains as much as needs explaining about that, so how about the two of you, then?” Susan suggested.

 

“Let me, boys,” Rose insisted, knowing that the Doctors would overcomplicate matters or start insulting one another. “So, the first time I ever saw the Doctor regenerate, he immediately ended up in a sword fight and got his hand cut off. Long story, but it ended up in a jar in the TARDIS. We got separated for years, sealed off in different universes. As soon as I found my way back to him, he was shot and started regenerating again, but didn't want to change when we had just found each other again. So, he healed himself and sent the rest of the regeneration energy into the hand and it ended up creating a second Doctor. So, now there's two of him.”

 

“And if this hopping through our timeline goes on much longer, we're going to have two of you in one place as well,” Evander pointed out.

 

“If we do, you will all have to hide who I am from the past me. If my nineteen year old self ever heard that you were married, she'd be heartbroken,” Rose told them.

 

“Even with the ears and the leather?” Evander asked with a look of disgust on his face.

 

Rose laughed, “I loved the ears! Don't be so hard on yourself. Besides, we wouldn't want to frighten this younger, dashingly handsome, you about his future appearance,” Rose teased, knowing that his future appearance was far less frightening than the war that they all knew was coming for him. They couldn't mention it to Susan though.

 

“What would I care what I look like, if I have you to look forward to?” the Doctor countered with a smirk and leaned closer to her to give her a kiss on the cheek.

 

“Enough about us, you've got some catching up to do with Susan, Doctor,” Alex interjected, hoping to change the subject for the moment.

 

The past Doctor and Susan chatted about what was happening on Earth and how Alex was interested in becoming an architect. The Doctor had hoped that he could get Susan and Alex to travel with him again. Rose realized then what the sadness was that was weighing this incarnation down. He was lonely. He had a lot of companions and he had to say goodbye too often. The centuries of goodbyes were hurting him, no wonder her Doctor had so much trouble with committing himself to her when their lifespans didn't match.

 

They were all shocked to hear the cloister bell ringing all of a sudden. Alex and Evander looked at each other in confusion, clearly not remembering anything like this happening before.

 

“I thought this was when the fish thing was supposed to happen? I don't remember this,” Alex complained.

 

“Well clearly, we just wiped this whole part out of our memory instead of making up something to fill the space,” Evander responded and pulled Rose by the hand along with him to the console room. He was clearly tired of being left out of her attentions any longer.

 

The others followed them back to see what was happening and Alex and Lucie joined them as well. Checking the scanners, they could see that Missy was standing outside the TARDIS waiting to face them directly.

 

“What's she up to this time? No big mystery to solve to find her as she threatens the whole of reality? I'm so sick of this,” Rose growled angrily.

 

“We'll take care of this, Rose. Don't you worry about it,” the eighth Doctor told her soothingly and gave her a quick hug before heading towards the doors. “Coming Doctors?” he added with a look back to the others.

 

“Hang on! Don't you dare just walk out there as a bloody target!” Evander shouted and ran after him. Grabbing him by the shoulders, he told him quietly, but firmly, “Look, this is her last chance to kill you before the war starts. She might be getting desperate enough not to follow her usual M.O. We have got to be careful.”

 

“Let us go out there first. And the rest of you, stay in here! No arguments, Lucie,” Alex added as he approached the doors worriedly.

 

Rose could feel real fear coming from both Alex and Evander. They didn't think that Missy would behave predictably this time. That or they were very worried about her pulling them back into the war. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but they were terrified. She grabbed the younger Doctor's hand and squeezed it tightly.

 

“What is it? I've never seen you so tense, Rose,” he questioned.

 

“They are both terrified. I don't know if it's about Missy or ending up back inside the war, but I've never felt so much fear from them,” she whispered so as not to upset the others.

 

“Oh, I imagine they've been terrified around you before. Just perhaps not since you've bonded with them? From what I've gathered that is still relatively new for you three?” he told her reassuringly.

 

“Well, Alex and I have been bonded for a while, but yeah, I suppose we haven't been through anything much worse than the trial. Even that was more stressful than frightening,” Rose admitted.

 

Outside the doors of the TARDIS, they could hear the proceedings clearly.

 

“Doctors, you got here quickly this time,” Missy greeted them. “And where is your pretty little pet?”

 

“Leave her out of this. You know you can't stop the war, Missy. Even if you do kill me before it happens. I didn't start it. I tried to stay out of it,” Alex argued. “You'd be better off staying here for a few years. The Dalek Time Controller will be along in no time.”

 

“Nice try, Doctor, but you'd still be in my way. Once you're gone, I can take my time and stop the Daleks whenever I choose,” Missy sneered. “For now, you've got bigger concerns. There are four bombs set to go off around the city in ooh, about twenty minutes. You should be able to scan for the neutron bombs manually, but if I were you, I wouldn't take a TARDIS or vortex manipulator near them, they're set to detonate in the presence of chronon particles. Have fun!”

 

At that, Missy walked away from them casually, as if their dealings were complete.

 

“What the hell is she playing at?” Evander snarled.

 

Alex ignored him for the moment and started scanning for the devices. “Dammit! We'll never get there and defuse them in time if we stay together,” he shouted frustratedly.

 

“How far apart are they?” the eighth Doctor questioned, joining them outside.

 

“Far enough that it'll take at least fifteen minutes to get from here to each, then of course, that leave five minutes to disarm them,” Alex explained and turned to Rose. “I know you want to argue, love, but we don't have time. Four bombs, four sonics. Use setting thirty-seven-D and when you get there, four-hundred and three should disarm it, but I'll contact you if I can see that won't work on them.”

 

The Doctors could all feel her anxiety at leaving their sides, but she nodded and started following the readings on her sonic.

 

“All of you are to stay inside the TARDIS. If we can't stop the bombs, you'll be safest here and you'll be able to get medical supplies from here to the people in the city if needed afterward,” Evander told Susan, Alex, and Lucie before closing the TARDIS doors firmly and setting out to find his own bomb to defuse.

 

“Good luck,” the eighth Doctor said with a nod to Alex and they each set off as well.

 


	21. Relative Dimensions: Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely apologize that I couldn't find a good place to give Rose some "alone time" with eight. I may have to mix him into a later story in this series for just that purpose ;)
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like this... we go from eight into nine in this chapter and all the fun stuff is really about to happen!!

Chapter Twenty-One – Relative Dimensions: Part Two

 

 

Rose angrily followed the pinging scanner on her sonic and made her way to the bomb that she was assigned to defuse. Missy was up to something. She would either be following the past Doctor the whole way or leading them all into a trap, Rose just knew it. She paid careful attention to all three of the Doctors as she went, terrified that something would go horribly wrong.

 

~'Is everyone alright?'~ she asked them all worriedly.

 

~'Yes, Rose, try not to worry. I have faced the Master many times before on my own,'~ the past Doctor replied with a mental eye roll.

 

~'Don't worry about us, love, just you be careful ok? She knows how much you mean to us,'~ Alex answered. His soothing mental caress helped to ease her tension slightly.

 

~'I'm fine, darling, but I'm worrying about the same thing you are. She's up to something and it isn't good. There's more to it than a bunch of bombs that we can find easily. She wanted us separated from each other and the TARDIS,'~ Evander told Rose and Alex.

 

~'Oh my god, you're right, Evander! The TARDIS! What if she's after Susan?'~ Rose nearly shouted to all three Doctors.

 

~'Susan?! No, no, no. Oh darling, you're right. She knows that the best way to get to me is through my companions and we can't go back to the TARDIS until we've taken care of these blasted things,'~ the eighth Doctor despaired.

 

~'You're right, as usual, love. Missy is sure to go to the TARDIS and threaten all of them waiting for us there,'~ Alex agreed, not having heard his past self's reply.

 

They had each reached their destinations at nearly the same time. Defusing the bombs was insultingly easy for all of them, only emphasizing the point that this was only a distraction, aimed to get them away from the TARDIS and its occupants.

 

On their way back to the two TARDISes, they discussed options for when they got there.

 

~'Our TARDIS is a second out of sync, learned that one a while back from the Daleks. It's useful for hiding her from the Master,'~ Evander told Rose. It was a bit of a distracting echo, but she passed along everything her current Doctors said to the past Doctor as the others said it.

 

~'Alright. Is there anything we can do with our TARDIS to stop whatever Missy is doing in the other TARDIS? Materialize around her or something?'~ Rose suggested.

 

~'We can't put the TARDIS inside of herself, unfortunately,'~ Alex told her.

 

~'Well, I have had it happen before, but it was an accident and Amy and I fixed it, but it was Rory's fault! He was looking up her skirt or something and dropped... oh never mind. It's a bad idea. So we need another one,'~ Evander rambled, which was unusual for this incarnation.

 

~'Perhaps we could have the future TARDIS communicate with the past TARDIS. Figure out where she is and rearrange the rooms to trap her,'~ the younger Doctor suggested and Rose passed along the message.

 

~'Yes, that might work. Almost there now,'~ Alex replied and they ran back to where they had first parted ways.

 

Evander used his sonic to bring their TARDIS back into sync with reality and the four of them entered immediately. “I can bring up the scanners from the other TARDIS on our monitors, but Rose, darling, you're the best one to talk to her,” he announced as he ran around the console to the keyboard.

 

“Not a problem, love,” Rose answered and placed a hand on the time rotor as she watched the screen with her Doctors.

 

They made suggestions as to how to manoeuvre Missy where they wanted her to go and lock her in the room. It also happened to be shielded from time manipulations, so that she couldn't leave with her wrist strap for the time being.

 

“There now, I think we ought to go and see if dinner is ready,” the past Doctor proclaimed haughtily and took Rose's arm as he led her out of one TARDIS and into the other.

 

Alex and Evander looked at each other and shrugged, accepting their fate as they followed the others to Christmas dinner. Susan, Lucie, and young Alex admitted that Missy had frightened them quite a bit when she stormed into the TARDIS, but had managed to barricade themselves in the library until the Doctors had taken care of her. Doctors Alex and Evander did their best to enjoy the time with their Granddaughter and Great-Grandson, but knowing the fate that would befall them far too soon, just made it all too painful.

 

“Despite knowing that what you thought happened during this time is incorrect, what did you remember?” the past Doctor asked the future ones.

 

“Oh, you're really trying to confuse your companions now,” Rose chided and shook her head.

 

Susan rolled her eyes. She understood all of this from her time studying on Gallifrey before they left. She was a Time Lady as well and knew about memory suppression. But she had no desire to try and explain that sort of thing to her son.

 

“Oh, well,” Alex began, rubbing the back of his neck. “Something about a fish escaping Susan's old room? It was killing the Fledershrews, I think.”

 

“Oh! We saw some dead Fledershrews in the hallway when we heard that voice! Didn't we, Alex?” Lucie exclaimed.

 

“I guess all that did still happen,” Evander sighed. “Shall I go shuffle the rooms to lock it up as well? Maybe we can lock it in with Missy and it can electrocute her a few times before we let them out.”

 

“Might as well,” Alex agreed.

 

When everyone had finished dinner, they all gathered in the sitting area of the console room, where there was a Christmas tree set up. The Doctor gave Susan an Aztec necklace and Alex some drawings from Leonardo da Vinci. He was surprised though to find a box under the tree with Rose's name on it.

 

“Must be something the TARDIS thought you should have,” the young Doctor suggested.

 

“The Old Girl always has loved you, Rose,” Alex said fondly.

 

Rose opened the gold wrapped present carefully to find a beautiful, silver bracelet inside. The surface was covered in Gallifreyan writing. The Doctors all gaped at the item as Rose admired her present.

 

“Oh it's lovely!” she sighed and turned it around to read the inscribed message. Rose gasped at what she saw. “Doctor! This... this...” she stuttered and held it out for them to see.

 

“That's a relic! How in Rassilon's name did the TARDIS get that?” Evander exclaimed.

 

Alex took the time to read the inscriptions that had bothered Rose and found that it was covered in the words 'Bad Wolf.' Entwined between the circles that made up the language of the Time Lords were vines of roses.

 

“This belongs in the vaults on Gallifrey,” the eighth Doctor insisted.

 

“I think you'll find that it belongs with Rose. Look at what it says,” Alex argued and showed the bracelet to Evander.

 

“Across all of space and time indeed. Our precious, Bad Wolf,” Evander said with a disbelieving shake of his head.

 

“Well, none of us certainly stole it from Gallifrey, so there isn't much I can do now but accept it,” Rose decided and clasped the bracelet around her wrist. Everyone in the room gasped as the trinket glowed with golden light for a moment before any method of opening it again disappeared.

 

They were all startled out of their admiration for the bracelet, by the lights in the TARDIS flickering.

 

“Oh, that bloody fish is draining the power systems! It's bound to take down the temporal shielding on the room holding Missy soon,” Alex groaned and dashed to the console to check on things.

 

“Well, she can't have gotten through yet or I wouldn't...” Rose began but disappeared before their eyes.

 

“Still be here? Yeah, that's what I thought. Now, the question is, will Missy be able to get through the time lock or will she even want to be around during our next life? Of course, if she skips that one, it means we're going to have two Rose's on our next trip,” Alex rambled as he tried to keep the fish that he knew was draining power from the TARDIS contained. “Alright, you've got your own problem to deal with here there was a little dried air fish in Susan's room, but as soon as you brought her room out of stasis, it escaped and is now a pan-dimensional, pan-temporal pest. You'll manage, we've got to go find Rose.”

 

******************************************************

 

“...still be here. Oh!” Rose cried as she collapsed onto familiar metal flooring. “Doctor?”

 

“Who are you and how did you get in here?” the familiar voice of Jack Harkness demanded over the whining sound of a sonic blaster powering up.

 

Rose put her hands in the air as much as she could while recovering from her transport. “Just give me a minute, Jack, please?” she asked.

 

~'Doctor, I know you can feel me. Please don't say anything until I've unlocked some memories for you. You can trust me, I know you think it's impossible, but unlocking those memories will explain everything,'~ Rose thought to the Doctor, unsure of just where he was at the moment.

 

They heard the sound of heavy work boots pounding on the grating as he stormed into the console room. “Put the gun away, Harkness,” he said curtly.

 

“But, Doctor, who is she? She just appeared out of thin air. I didn't think anyone could teleport into here?” Jack argued.

 

“Just put the gun away. We can trust her,” he told Jack as he helped her up from the floor. “Now, you can give me that explanation.”

 

“Right,” she said shakily as she finally looked up into painfully familiar blue eyes. She placed trembling fingers against his temples and unlocked the memories of their past meetings and exactly who she was. Before removing her hands and looking at him again, she told him silently, ~'Call me Sagacity. Don't tell myself or Jack that I'm your wife, might be best not to even let them know that I'm a Time Lady. Now when are we?'~

 

Rose opened her eyes and took a step away from the gaping Time Lord. It took a full minute before he managed to clear his throat to speak again, but before he could say a word, a much younger Rose entered the console room and looked at the newcomer curiously.

 

“Right. Good. Jack, Rose, this is Sagacity. She's a friend of mine and another time traveller. To answer your question, Sagacity, we are in Cardiff. Is that enough information?” he explained warily.

 

“Uh, yeah. Timing. Is Mickey here yet?” Sagacity asked, worriedly trying to think of damage control.

 

“Hang on, how did you know...?” Rose started to ask.

 

“I told you, she's a time traveller. She'll know a lot of things that haven't happened yet. And that's dangerous. So she won't be able to answer every question. Now, contact Alex and Evander. We'll fix the problem with Missy as quickly as possible and avoid creating any paradoxes,” the Doctor interrupted as he took charge of the situation.

 

This Doctor's no nonsense methods tugged at Sagacity's heart painfully. She sent the signal along her bond to her husbands, releasing their memories so that they would know where to find her. Looking at her past self, Rose wondered if her hips had looked that wide just before she regenerated. She shook herself away from that line of thought and considered Jack. He was so young here and definitely not immortal. He would be understanding about maintaining timelines, but not so happy about having to suppress his memories. He was already missing years of memories thanks to the Time Agency. They'd have to find a way to convince him though, because he didn't recognize her when they first met him after her regeneration.

 

There was a knock on the door, that Sagacity presumed would be Mickey. Jack went to open the TARDIS door for him and came face to face with... himself. “What?” the younger Jack gasped.

 

Future Jack just gave him a look of incredulity. “Really, Jack? You were a Time Agent. You're coming with me for a minute to explain a couple of things, Doc, you can come if you want. Sagacity, when you get back to your regular time, you need to tell me about this and send me here. Got it?” he explained and winked saucily at her.

 

“Got it, Jack. And thank you, I was a little worried about this,” Sagacity replied.

 

**************************************

 

The leather-clad Doctor followed the two Jacks deeper into the TARDIS to pass along whatever messages needed passing on. His mind could barely grasp what was happening. His past selves had simply accepted how amazing this Rose from their future was and adored her devotion and abilities. Now, he knew Rose. He knew exactly where she came from and how she had grown since meeting him. He had already fallen for her, of course, but fought those feelings fiercely. Apparently, he shouldn't. He shook himself out of his thoughts as they stopped in Jack's room and closed the door.

 

“Ok, here's the deal. Jack, you're going to hate this, I know, but you will have to trust the Doctor when this is over and allow him to lock the memories away,” future Jack began.

 

“But I can...” younger Jack started to argue.

 

Holding up a hand, the older Jack stopped him. “I know you think you can just keep it all a secret, but you can't. I'll trust myself to keep the secret for the duration of the events, but you have to forget once she's gone. Sagacity is Rose.”

 

“What? What are you talking about?” the younger Jack questioned disbelievingly.

 

“It's true, Jack. She unlocked some memories for me just now. That woman out there, is Rose from the future. A future where she managed to turn herself into one of my species so that she could stay with me. She's been sent back through my timeline by someone who's been trying to kill me in my past,” the Doctor explained, knowing that his version of Jack was questioning whether this other man really was himself from the future.

 

“You know that the legends of the Time Lords say that when they are dying, they can change their whole bodies and become someone new. That's why she doesn't look like the Rose you know. But you can't just keep this secret. There are too many things that happen in between for you to know this much about her future. I wouldn't be telling you all this right now, except that Missy is going to reveal certain things anyway. Best if you aren't left in shock while things need doing. Now, I'm coming from a future point after everything with Missy is done. The only warning I've been told that I can give is that this time, she isn't after you, Doctor. She's going to try and kill Rose before she changes herself,” future Jack informed them.

 

“Right. Ok,” the Doctor sighed and his brow furrowed in concentration. “I presume you aren't staying, Captain?”

 

“No, I just came to make sure that he let you suppress those memories when this is done,” future Jack said with a nod to his younger self.

 

“Good. It'll be bad enough with two versions of Rose and three versions of me around here,” the Doctor acknowledged.

 

“Three?” younger Jack exclaimed.

 

“Long story. We protect the younger Rose at all costs. The older version of Rose is to be called Sagacity at all times and there is to be absolutely no mention of the fact that she is my wife or the younger Rose will be so upset that she'll end up not paying attention to anything and get herself into trouble,” the Doctor reasoned.

 

“Absolutely. Rose was always brilliant, but she's extremely self-conscious at this point. Knowing you have a wife in the future would break her heart. Not a word to her about it. If Missy mentions it, be prepared to deal with a Rose that is completely in shock,” future Jack told them. “Now, before I say anything else, I've got to go. Good luck, boys,” he added with a wink and pressed the button on his vortex manipulator.

 

Jack smirked at the Doctor and crossed his arms. “Your wife, huh?”

 

“Yeah,” the Doctor replied with his manic grin. “On this trip through my timeline, I've met this version of her in every one of my lives. Only for short periods and I couldn't remember any of them afterward, but I never really knew her. Just knew that she was my future wife, that I could trust her and that she was absolutely brilliant. Now that I know where she came from, Jack, I can hardly believe it,” he told him, clearly in awe of the woman that Rose would become.

 

“I can't tell you how happy I am for the two of you. But with all of the timelines crossing right now, we are going to have to be super careful. I'm glad for the warnings from myself,” Jack said with a broad smile.

 

“Right. Best get back in there. I'm sure our Rose is uncomfortable enough with a female friend of mine on board,” the Doctor joked.

 

Jack laughed and they both made their way back to the console room. Rose was sitting on the jump seat with her hands clasped between her knees, eyeing the stranger warily. Sagacity smiled at her past self reassuringly as she leaned against the railing casually.

 

“All set there, boys?” Sagacity asked when they arrived.

 

“Yup. Future Jack explained a few things to this Jack and let us know what Missy is up to this time,” the Doctor informed her.

 

“I know all about it,” Jack told her with a wink.

 

Sagacity laughed, realizing that he knew who she was now. “Come here!” she told him and opened her arms for a hug.

 

He ran over and wrapped his arms around her waist as he spun her happily. The younger Rose looked extremely confused by this since Jack didn't seem to have a clue who this woman was earlier. They heard the door being unlocked as Alex and Evander entered the TARDIS.

 

“Oi! You could knock!” the leather-clad Doctor protested, prompting an eye roll from both of them.

 

“Come here, Sagacity,” Alex said with a smile and open arms.

 

She extracted herself from Jack's hug and ran into the arms of her husband. As usual, she was passed over to Evander where he kissed her and pressed his forehead against hers lovingly. Jack smiled at the sight. He still didn't understand how there were two Doctors with this future Rose, but it didn't matter. The fact that Rose and the Doctor were properly together was enough to make his heart soar.

 

“We had a visit from Jack in your time. He managed to tell us what Missy is up to. She wants Rose,” the Doctor told them and crossed his arms as he nodded towards his young companion.

 

“What?” Rose squeaked.

 

Both Alex and Evander's faces transformed into the Oncoming Storm. Beings throughout the universe would cower from the power behind their eyes. Evander wrapped his arms tightly around Sagacity as Alex growled, “Over my dead body.”

 


	22. Boom Town: Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I make no apologies for nine smut. Enjoy.

Chapter Twenty-Two – Boom Town: Part One

 

 

“Ok, hang on a minute,” Rose interrupted. “Why is this person after me?”

 

Alex looked at her with pure adoration. “Because you, Rose Tyler, are extremely important. Missy is completely insane and trying to destroy the entire universe. If she kills you before you can do all of the amazing things that we know you will do, the paradox would bring far more than reapers,” Alex explained.

 

“Me? What you mean, me? No, that can't be right, I'm nobody important,” Rose protested.

 

Evander laughed as he hugged his wife a little tighter. Sagacity squeezed him back and extricated herself so that she could help her younger self understand.

 

“Rose, we are time travellers. We know about something that you're going to do very soon. I know you won't remember this after today because you won't remember meeting me. But you are going to save the Earth and the Doctor and Jack singlehandedly. A few years from now, you're going to be a part of something that saves the entire universe. This person wants to kill you before you have a chance to do those things. If your dad surviving just to be a part of your life was enough to bring reapers down on the planet, what kind of paradox do you think would result from you not doing those things?” Sagacity explained.

 

Rose looked warily at the faces of everyone in the room. They all seemed to be encouraging her to believe these things, so she nodded and shakily replied, “Umm, ok.”

 

The three Doctors beamed at her proudly. She had always taken everything in stride, but the future Doctors had forgotten just how unsure of herself she was at this point.

 

“Right,” Evander said suddenly. “Ricky's going to be here soon. No mentioning people trying to kill Rose, he's liable to wet his pants or something. We just keep Rose safe and go on with things as normally as possible.”

 

The leather-clad Doctor chuckled softly at Evander's teasing of Rose's boyfriend, earning himself a glare to match the one she was sending the stranger.

 

“Oi! It's Mickey, thank you very much,” Rose protested.

 

“And he worries about you,” Sagacity interjected. “If he hears one word about someone trying to hurt you, he'll take you home to your mum right now and how safe do you think we can keep you there?”

 

“Alright,” Rose pouted and crossed her arms as she stared at the floor.

 

“Rose,” the Doctor said softly and moved to stand in front of her. “Trust me. We will keep you safe, alright? Can't have anything happening to you here in Cardiff when we've got a whole universe out there to see yet,” he told her with a wink.

 

She returned his smile more confidently as they heard a knock on the TARDIS doors. Alex and Evander stepped off to the side with Sagacity as Jack went to answer the door for the second time that day.

 

“Who the hell are you?” Jack asked teasingly as he opened the door.

 

“What do you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?” Mickey shouted from outside.

 

“Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever you're selling, we're not buying,” Jack replied cheekily.

 

“Get out of my way!” he protested and shoved his way inside.

 

“Don't tell me. This must be Mickey,” Jack said as he closed the door behind him.

 

“Here comes trouble! How're you doing, Ricky boy?” the Doctor asked cheerily.

 

“It's Mickey!” the young man retorted angrily.

 

“Don't listen to him, he's winding you up,” Rose comforted her friend.

 

“You look fantastic,” Mickey praised her and gave her a hug.

 

“Aw, sweet. Almost as cute as those three. How come I never get any of that?” Jack proclaimed with a wink at Sagacity.

 

“Buy me a drink first,” the Doctor teased.

 

“You're such hard work,” Jack replied, playing along.

 

“But worth it,” the Doctor responded and added his own wink to Sagacity.

 

“Who are all these people, then?” Mickey questioned.

 

“You met Jack at the door. He's been travelling with us for a bit. Those three just got here to help out with something. They are Sagacity, Alex, and Evander, was it?” Rose introduced them.

 

“You've got it,” Evander told her with a smile. “Pleasure to meet you, Rickey.”

 

~'Oh no,'~ Sagacity moaned to the Doctors silently. ~'Please tell me that you aren't going to spend this whole time teasing him. He's gonna kill you when he remembers this later.'~

 

She heard both Evander and the past Doctor chuckling quietly, but Alex just shook his head and smirked.

 

“So anyway, what're you doing in Cardiff? And who the hell is this Jumping Jack Flash travelling with you? I mean, I don't mind you hanging out with big-ears over there,” Mickey questioned.

 

“Oi!” the Doctor protested.

 

“Look in the mirror,” Mickey replied and looked Jack over unhappily. “But this guy, I don't know, he's kind of...”

 

“Handsome?” Jack supplied with a grin.

 

“More like cheesy,” Mickey answered.

 

“Early twenty-first century slang. Is cheesy good or bad?” Jack wondered, prompting soft laughter from the future trio.

 

“It's bad,” Mickey replied coldly.

 

“But bad means good, isn't that right?” Jack argued with a nod towards Sagacity who was barely keeping herself together.

 

“Are you saying I'm not handsome?” the Doctor grumbled.

 

~'I think you're dead sexy and so does the past me. Don't worry about Mickey. She's breaking up with him officially tonight,'~ Sagacity thought to the past Doctor reassuringly. He smirked at her and returned to tinkering with the console to look busy.

 

“We just stopped off. We need to refuel. The thing is, Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible, but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions,” Rose explained.

 

“The rift was healed back in 1869,” the Doctor continued.

 

“Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth, because these creatures called the Gelth, they were using the rift as a gateway, but she saved the world and closed it,” Rose concluded.

 

“But closing a rift always leaves a scar, and that scar generates energy, harmless to the human race...” Jack added.

 

“But perfect for the TARDIS, so just park it here for a couple of days right on top of the scar and...” the Doctor explained.

 

“Open up the engines, soak up the radiation!” Jack told him.

 

“Like filling her up with petrol and off we go!” Rose exclaimed happily.

 

“Into time!” Jack shouted.

 

“And space!” Rose, Jack, and the Doctor cried together as they threw their arms in the air.

 

Mickey shook his head at their antics. “My god, have you seen yourselves? You all think you're so clever, don't you?”

 

“Yeah,” the Doctor told him with a manic grin.

 

“Yeah,” Rose said confidently as she took the Doctor's arm and they headed towards the door.

 

“Yep!” Jack added as he followed them.

 

“I definitely think they're clever,” Sagacity said as she took the arms of both of her own Doctors and they followed after their younger selves as well.

 

“I agree, definitely the most clever people I know, right there,” Alex teased, knowing that the past Doctor could hear them as well.

 

“Oh, I don't know. I think this young lady between us is probably the cleverest of all,” Evander said and leaned down to kiss her neck softly as they walked.

 

“Uh, aren't you a little old for her, gramps?” Mickey said as he followed everyone out of the time ship.

 

“Oh here we go again with the human judgements of the appearance of age. For your information, Ricky, I'm about two thousand years old. This lovely lady is in her thirties, or thereabouts. And you might think that just goes and proves your point, however, pinstripes on the other side of her is a little over nine-hundred. So, before you go assuming that everyone around you is human and follows your conventions of attraction, maybe you could hold off on the insults, pudding brain,” Evander shouted angrily.

 

“Calm down, love. Please. You know it doesn't bother me one bit and I'm the one whose opinion matters on the subject,” Sagacity told him as she placed a hand on his cheek and turned his gaze back to her rather than scowling at Mickey.

 

“Well, refuelling should take another twenty-four hours, which means we've got time to kill,” the leather-clad Doctor interrupted.

 

“That old lady's staring,” Mickey told them.

 

“Probably wondering what seven people could do inside a small wooden box,” Jack teased him.

 

“What are you captain of? The Innuendo Squad?” Mickey retorted.

 

Jack made a 'whatever' sign with his fingers and marched off to join Rose and the youngest Doctor. Mickey chased after them as Sagacity, Alex, and Evander followed, their arms linked.

 

“It's funny to think that the memories of all this have been changed. I cherished my memories of these days when we were separated, and they weren't even real,” Sagacity mused.

 

“We did too. Doesn't look like a lot of it was changed from what we remember as far as these little conversations go. Just edited us out of the equation and whatever events will come with Missy,” Alex told her.

 

“We can't let the younger Rose out of our sight,” Evander insisted as he sped up their walking a bit so they wouldn't fall too far behind the group.

 

The rest of the day went almost exactly as they remembered it. Going for chips, listening to Jack tell ridiculous stories, the past Doctor finding the picture of Margaret the Slitheen in the newspaper. When they were deciding on teams to split up, Alex grabbed Rose, while Sagacity went with the youngest Doctor, leaving Evander to go with Jack. Mickey felt rather left out of the whole thing, but he always did feel like he didn't belong when he did anything with the Doctor.

 

“So, what exactly _is_ the relationship between the three of you?” Rose asked Alex as they made their way to the exit they were assigned.

 

“We're married. All three of us,” Alex told her with a grin. He understood exactly how his Rose was feeling about seeing his leather-clad self as he looked upon this very young version of his wife. He loved his Rose dearly, but he did miss her first body very much.

 

“Are you all from like, Jack's time? Everyone is a bit more... flexible?” Rose asked flirtatiously.

 

Alex's eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline. That was not what he expected from her after telling her that he was married. Especially to two other people already.

 

“Well, it's a bit of a unique situation for us. A little personal to explain, but Evander and I don't consider ourselves bi-sexual if that's what you're asking,” he responded with only a bit of a squeak in his voice.

 

The chase ensued for the escaping Slitheen and the time travellers from the future kept their sonics out of sight as the youngest Doctor took care of Margaret's teleport. The trio from the future watched from the sidelines as the past Team TARDIS had their little chat with Margaret about the nuclear power station and the extrapolator. Then the past Doctor noticed the name of the project, 'Blaidd Drwg.'

 

~'I had been wondering about it. I remember now, about the bracelet and stuff. They said you're the Bad Wolf?'~ the Doctor asked her silently.

 

~'Yeah. Somehow, I left all those messages,'~ Sagacity admitted to him. She didn't want to point out just how little time this version of the Doctor had left. The memories were too painful to think about.

 

“Nah, just a coincidence. Like hearing a word on the radio, then hearing it all day,” the Doctor told them as an excuse. “Never mind, things to do. Margaret, we're going to take you home.”

 

“Hold on, isn't that the easy option, like letting her go?” Jack argued.

 

“I don't believe it! We actually get to go to Raxa...,” the young Rose began excitedly as she tried to pronounce the difficult name. “Wait a minute! Raxacor..”

 

“Raxacoricofallapatorius,” the Doctor said casually with his arms crossed.

 

She struggled with it a bit more, but eventually managed to spit it out. Rose and the leather-clad Doctor hugged happily at her accomplishment and the future Rose and Doctors snuggled tighter together at the memory.

 

They took Margaret back to the TARDIS then. Keeping her in custody while the ship soaked up energy from the rift. Jack worked on hooking up the extrapolator to the TARDIS and the future trio didn't stop him, knowing that this was the important event that led Rose to realize that she could open the TARDIS console in the future.

 

Before Margaret could convince the Doctor to take her away for her last meal, however, Alex pulled the young Doctor and Sagacity aside for a moment. “I'll cover for you for about an hour or so, go make the best of it,” he told them with a knowing smirk.

 

“God I love you,” Sagacity told him, followed by a fierce snog before she dragged the past Doctor down the hallway to his room. “And we have to wipe Mickey's memories of us before he leaves to talk with Rose!” she called over her shoulder, knowing that Mickey would take off after that.

 

As soon as they got through the door of the Doctor's room, Rose immediately reached to pull off his leather jacket. She tossed it onto the floor with a thump and sighed, “God I always wanted to do that!”

 

The Doctor grinned at her cheekily and pressed her up against the wall behind her. “Always wanted you to,” he replied and started sucking on her neck. He pulled her hands up over her head and ground his hips against hers as she moaned.

 

“I've missed this version of you so much, Doctor,” she admitted as a tear escaped her eye.

 

“I know. I understand, love. Just take the opportunity now. While it lasts,” he told her between firm kisses.

 

Rose gasped as they both started tugging on each other's clothing, not particularly caring if they tore anything. Within minutes, he was lifting her legs up to wrap around his waist as he pressed her harder against the wall. This version of him was solid muscle and harsh lines, his erection larger than even her future Doctors. She groaned in ecstasy as he entered her. His breathing became ragged and he rested his forehead against her shoulder for a moment as he tried to regain control of himself.

 

“Please, my love,” Rose sighed and scraped her fingernails over his scalp.

 

He moaned loudly and set up a pounding pace as he thrust into her. Rose's arms draped over his shoulders, she frequently dug her fingers into his flesh, almost painfully, but it only drove him on. She began to sigh loving endearments in Gallifreyan to him as she got closer, prompting him to hold her more tightly, knowing that she would be the only one to speak the language to him ever again.

 

They had told him about the war, but nothing could have prepared him for what had happened. He understood now, why the only way for them to access the Matrix had been to go back for the trial. Why they had needed help to get away from Pazithi Gallifreya once it was over. It all made sense now and it was horrifyingly painful.

 

He buried the pain of it all inside the glorious heat of his future wife. The woman that he already loved, that would transform herself for him. He had been in awe of her being willing to change herself just for him when he learned about it. But could never have realized that she did it, not just to stay with him, but so that he wouldn't be alone as the last of the Time Lords.

 

Rose's body clenched around him as she fell into bliss and he began his own string of Gallifreyan phrases to tell her how brilliant, shining, glorious, and magnificent she was throughout eternity, in all incarnations as could only be described in his native language. His pace increased to be impossibly harder and faster, chasing his own release inside of her. With a shout that just might have broken through the soundproof walls of his bedroom, to be heard in the console room, the Doctor pulsed into her. She clung to his shoulders tightly, resting her head against his and caressing him telepathically to soothe the emptiness he had felt since the war.

 

Rather than putting her down on the floor, he carried her over to his bed and placed her on it gently. He crawled in beside her and curled his long limbs around her naked form. “Thank you,” he whispered brokenly.

 

“I'm here, Doctor. Although, we will have to get back to the rest of them soon,” Rose said with a sigh.

 

“Alex said we've got an hour and I'm taking every bloody minute of it,” he insisted, squeezing her possessively.

 

“Well then, old man, you've got about twenty minutes for another round. Are you up for it?” she teased.

 

“What do you think?” he growled as he pressed his erection against her hip.

 

######################################

 

“So, do you know stuff about my future?” Rose asked Alex as they lounged in the console room.

 

“Yes, and you know I can't tell you any of it,” he answered, his arms clasped behind his head and his feet propped up on the console the way he used to lounge in this version of the TARDIS.

 

Jack chuckled from his place on the floor where he was still working on the extrapolator. Mickey was sulking nearby. Evander watched Alex flirting with Rose, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the railing.

 

“Sagacity said something about me not remembering stuff from today. If I'll have to forget things anyway, you could tell me a few things, yeah?” she reasoned.

 

“That is true. But you'd never believe me anyway,” he teased.

 

“Try me,” Rose laughed and sat next to him on the jump seat, bumping his shoulder in a way that he was so used to, it was painfully tugging at his hearts.

 

Alex looked upwards and hummed in thought about something that he could actually tell her. While he was thinking, he heard Evander in his head, ~' _Sagacity_ is going to kill you for flirting with her right now, you know.'~

 

~'Not while she's off shagging Big Ears, she's not,'~ he replied cheekily.

 

“Ok, welllll, you'll get to meet Queen Victoria,” Alex informed her with a bright smile.

 

“Oh, that's not something that I'd never believe! I mean, I've already met Charles Dickens with ghosts at Christmas. Meeting Queen Victoria is cool and all, but you said I wouldn't believe you!” she argued playfully.

 

“Alright,” he said and sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Well, see the things that are fantastic, you're bound to believe because you've seen so many amazing things already. And the things that you really wouldn't believe, I honestly _can't_ tell you without hurting anyone's feelings right now.”

 

“That's why I said Sagacity is going to kill you for this,” Evander commented out loud this time.

 

“Fine,” Alex pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.

 

“You seem very comfortable here. Do you travel on the TARDIS in the future?” Rose asked, accepting that she wouldn't get more information about her own future.

 

“You could say that,” Alex replied with a smirk.

 

“Where is Sagacity anyway? Aren't you two worried about her at all?” Mickey interrupted.

 

“She's just catching up with the Doctor. And no, Rickey, we are not worried about our wife while on board the TARDIS. She is perfectly safe in here,” Evander responded sharply.

 

Rose bit her lip as she thought about her Doctor off talking privately with the woman. He said they were friends, but didn't say how close they were. Of course, her two husbands weren't concerned about it, so she thought she was probably being silly for getting jealous.

 

Alex could see the insecurity plainly and leaned in closely to whisper to her, “Here's something you won't believe. You've got nothing to worry about when it comes to the Doctor.” He raised his eyebrows as he pulled back to look into her wide brown eyes and nodded at her to confirm that what she was thinking was exactly what he meant.

 

She laughed nervously then and ran a hand through her hair. “You're right. I don't believe you,” she laughed again.

 

“You should. If he just told you what I think he did,” Evander responded and smiled when Alex winked at him.

 

“Right. I've had enough of this. I'm going for a walk,” Mickey announced grumpily and stormed outside.

 

“I'd better go after him,” Rose grumbled.

 

“I'm coming to keep an eye on you. I won't listen in, but someone is trying to kill you. I won't let it happen,” Evander insisted as he followed her outside. “Mickey, could I have a word for a moment?” he said to the young man before they all went off for their walk.

 

“What do you want?” he sneered at Evander.

 

Without bothering with explanations that Mickey wouldn't remember anyway, Evander placed his fingertips on the young man's temples. Mickey's eyes rolled back as his memories were altered to the version of that day he had thought happened before the truth was unlocked. Evander also set up a bit of a perception block in his mind so that he wouldn't notice Evander watching them nearby and would forget any mentions of them from Rose during their conversation. Releasing him gently, he turned him and sent him off on his walk with Rose.

 

Rose looked back at the older man curiously, but took Mickey's offered arm as they walked over to the railing by the water. Evander watched as Mickey tried to flirt his way back into Rose's life and she continued to brush him off nonchalantly. He kept an eye out for Missy as he followed them around from a distance. Eventually he overheard them fighting as Mickey demanded that she tell him if he was wasting his time waiting around for her the rest of his life. She apologized, making it clear that she wasn't interested in him waiting for her at all. When the rumbling started from the extrapolator opening the rift, she started running back to the TARDIS and Mickey left.

 

Evander followed her back and joined Alex and Sagacity off to the side as events progressed the way they remembered. Margaret was threatening Rose and the younger Doctor glared at them for allowing it to happen. The extrapolator pulled open the console and the Doctor convinced Margaret to look into the light. She turned into an egg and the Doctor closed everything down.

 

“Nicely done. No thanks to you three, of course,” the leather-clad Doctor told them pointedly.

 

“That all happened exactly the way it was supposed to, the way it needed to,” Sagacity insisted. “We're here to worry about Missy changing things.”

 

“Fine,” he grunted.

 

“What happened to Margaret?” Rose questioned.

 

“Must've got burnt up. Carried out her own death sentence,” Jack suggested.

 

“No, I don't think she's dead,” the Doctor told them.

 

“There where'd she go?” Rose wondered as she looked at the future time travellers for some kind of answer.

 

“She looked into the heart of the TARDIS. Even I don't know how strong that is,” he told her, knowing that this information was the reason why the others had allowed all of this to happen. “And the ship's telepathic, like told you, Rose. Gets inside your head, translates alien languages. Maybe the raw energy can translate all sorts of thoughts,” he explained as he searched through the clothes and skin suit Margaret had left behind until he pulled out the large, green egg with tentacles. “Here she is.”

 

“She's an egg?” Rose asked disbelievingly, looking at the others who were nodding back.

 

“Regressed to her childhood,” the Doctor said with a grin and stood up to place the egg on the console.

 

“She's an egg?” Jack questioned, repeating Rose's statement with equal incredulity.

 

“She can start again. Live her life from scratch. If we take her home, give her to a different family, tell them to bring her up properly, she might be alright!” the Doctor added happily.

 

“Or she might be worse,” Jack countered.

 

“That's her choice,” he replied.

 

“She's an egg,” Rose repeated again.

 

“She's an egg,” confirmed the trio from the future, laughing happily.

 

“So, what do we do about your situation then? Got to fix that before we head off to Raxacoricofallapatorius,” the Doctor stated and crossed his arms over his chest.

 

“Hey, we're just here to make sure that Missy doesn't blow a hole in the universe, thank you very much,” Evander argued.

 

“That was quite the light show there, Doctor,” the voice of Missy sounded from the doorway.

 


	23. Boom Town: Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to my beta TheDoctorMulder for her awesome help with making Missy even more crazy in this one. I really hope you like this, I've been planning it for a while and I'm very happy with how it turned out. Please review!!

Chapter Twenty-Three – Boom Town: Part Two

 

 

“Missy,” Alex hissed at her angrily.

 

“How did she get in here?” Jack shouted.

 

“Jack? Oh my goodness. And it's a Jack that doesn't come back every time I kill him, too,” Missy commented as she eyed Jack with an evil smile.

 

“What's that supposed to mean?” he questioned in confusion.

 

“Please don't, Missy. You're going to undoubtedly take the opportunity here to confuse and upset everyone with future knowledge. I'm asking you not to do that, please,” Alex requested.

 

“And why not? Thanks to you, I still didn't manage to stop the war. Wouldn't it have been better, Doctor? I could have prevented it all,” Missy pronounced boldly.

 

“And blown the entire universe to pieces in the process. How would that make you any better than Rassilon and the stupid drums?” Evander argued.

 

Rose looked around the room confusedly. She kept saying Doctor, but it was Alex and Evander that were answering. Maybe they were protecting the Doctor from this woman? She tried to hide herself behind the time rotor and the other people, but still be able to see what was happening.

 

“If I can't stop the war and take over Gallifrey, then I can stop your little Wolf from pulling her stunt with the time vortex. Where are you, Rose?” she asked as she searched the faces in the console room. “Ah, there she is. My, your memories of her during the year I had you imprisoned were a bit idealized weren't they?” she sneered as she looked the younger Rose over. “Really, I think you've got an improved version now,” she added as she looked at Sagacity.

 

“What's that supposed to mean? What's going on? Why do you want to kill me?” Rose questioned loudly. She was confused and extremely angry with this woman.

 

“She doesn't know!” Missy cheered. “You've been here this long and she doesn't know?” The insane Time Lady twirled around the console, circled Jack and ended up right in the face of Sagacity as she sang, “She doesn't know. She doesn't know.”

 

“Stop it! Leave her alone!” the youngest Doctor shouted angrily, finally putting his own voice into the argument.

 

“Hmm. I never did meet this version of you, did I? After the war, before Utopia. Not your usual style, Doctor,” she told him assessing his appearance.

 

“As amusing as this must be for you, Missy. You can't possibly think that with all of us here, we're going to allow you to kill Rose or the Doctor,” Evander interrupted.

 

Missy raised her eyebrows in realization. “She doesn't know who you two are, does she?” Missy questioned and bit her lip to keep the smile from spreading over her entire face. “This is just too much!” She held out her arms beckoningly toward Rose. “Oh, you poor thing. These boys are keeping so many secrets from you,” she told her, shaking her head sadly.

 

“Missy, what do you gain from all of this? You can't possibly think that your little device will prevent a paradox from forming if you prevent the existence of the Bad Wolf. The Doctor will die, I'll die, Jack will die and the entire universe will likely be taken over by Daleks when all is said and done. What does this do for you?” Sagacity questioned her.

 

“At this point? It's fun. It amuses me to no end that little Rosie over there hasn't got a clue who the three of you are. That I could be responsible for the destruction of reality just by killing the Doctor's wife,” Missy laughed and raised her blaster towards the blonde.

 

“What?” Rose gasped, her eyes wide in shock.

 

“No!” Sagacity shouted and jumped in front of her younger self just as the blast was fired.

 

“Rose!” shouted all three Doctors and Jack as the older Rose fell to the floor.

 

Alex and Evander ran to her side as Evander ordered the younger Doctor, “Get Rose to her room and lock the door! We'll take care of this.”

 

Jack already had his own blaster out and aimed at the insane Time Lady. “Don't move. Drop the gun now,” Jack ordered her.

 

Missy chuckled and put the blaster back into the hidden pocket of her dress. “Oh, I don't think so,” she replied as she watched Rose in amusement.

 

“Time to concentrate then,” Rose strained to talk.

 

“Just relax, love. Let it happen, we're here,” Alex whispered to her reassuringly.

 

“Nope. I've got a goal this time,” she told him with a pained smirk. “Back up, boys, you know how this goes.”

 

Alex and Evander backed away from their wife, but kept themselves between her and Missy to prevent her from firing again before the process could complete properly and kill her permanently. Golden light burst from her suddenly and she shouted in pain through the transformation, her voice changing during the process. 

 

As the light dimmed and everyone's eyes struggled to see normally again, they heard Missy taunt them, “I wonder how she'll fare time travel without a capsule before she's fully recovered.”

 

They all heard the zap of Missy's device and gaped at the empty space where Rose used to be.

 

“No!” Alex shouted painfully. “What if... what if...” 

 

“Calm down, Alex. We'll find her. She's still alive or we wouldn't be. The next Doctor will help her, you know he will. He might not recognize her, and it'll probably scare him, but he'll feel the bond and help her,” Evander assured him. “Let's go do some damage control with the younger Rose.”

 

Alex leaned into Evander's side as they walked down the hall, clearly unable to fully support himself in his worry over their wife. They headed towards Rose's room and knocked firmly.

 

********************************************************

 

The leather-clad Doctor pulled Rose out of the console room as soon as Evander gave the word. Reaching her room, he slammed the door behind them and locked it.

 

“Doctor, what was she talking about? She said I was your wife? Then the others called Sagacity, Rose. I don't understand. What exactly is going on?” Rose questioned nervously as she tried to catch her breath, both from the run and the rising panic.

 

“Rose, listen to me, please. First of all, Missy is completely insane. I'm sure you caught that,” he told her as he guided her to sit on her bed and he took both of her hands in his. “She was trying to confuse you and upset you. I can't explain all of it because it is so long and complicated and you won't remember for a long time, but Rose, by the time you remember any of this again, you'll be my wife,” he told her and kissed her firmly as he pressed his fingertips to her temples.

 

Rose fell asleep at his mental nudge and he went to work adjusting her memories of the day's events. Being inside this young Rose's human mind was blissful. His connection to the future Rose was nice, but being out of time with her, it was a bit disjointed. He hated that he couldn't allow himself to remember anything this time. Knowing her and knowing that he was already in love with her, he wanted to just rush forward into that future relationship, but knew that it couldn't be that way. He regretfully left the warm sunshine of her mind, when he was finished concealing her memories.

 

Just as he laid her down on her bed, he heard a firm knock on the door. He could feel that the other Rose wasn't there anymore, the link with her broken for the time being, which meant that Missy was gone too. He opened the door to face Jack, Alex, and Evander.

 

“She's sleeping,” he explained as he walked out of her room and closed the door behind him to speak with them in the hallway. “Hid her memories. Now, what happened?”

 

“Well, Rose regenerated obviously,” Evander told him, still supporting the distraught Alex.

 

“So, what's he so messed up about then?” the Doctor questioned.

 

“Missy pulled her out of here before she could recover. We didn't even have a chance to see what she looked like after the change. There's no telling what travelling through the vortex in that state will do to her!” Alex rambled through tear-filled eyes.

 

“Alex! Get a hold of yourself. Feel along your bond to her. She's alive. She's unconscious, but alive,” Evander told him, holding his upper arms firmly as he forced Alex to stand on his own and calm down.

 

“Wait, the me that came from the future, to warn us, could you send him to the next time too? Maybe he could help her there? Get her to the next Doctor?” Jack suggested.

 

“It's a possibility. We won't know if we do it until we get there and see if it happened. Really, we can only tell the future you to do the things that we find that you've already done,” Evander replied.

 

“Best if we take care of our memories before we risk any more paradoxes, eh?” the youngest Doctor suggested.

 

“You're right. Besides, I want to be inside our TARDIS and ready to fly as soon as we get the signal,” Alex said, much more determined than he was a moment ago.

 

They said their goodbyes and left the younger Doctor and Jack to hide the memories of the day. Upon reentering their own TARDIS, Alex tried to scan for the bracelet that Rose was given by the TARDIS. The relic had been said to have unusual properties and maybe the TARDIS could track it or something.

 

Evander paced worriedly through the console room, waiting anxiously for the signal from Rose to let them know where she was. He knew though, that she couldn't send it until she was awake and aware of what was happening. Something like that normally took him hours at least. With Rose having been pulled through the vortex so quickly, Alex was right to be worried, at least in so much as her recovery might take even longer than usual. But all they could do was wait and hope.

 

***************************************************

 

The Doctor was returning to the little flat that he shared with Martha while they were stuck in 1969. It was awkward living so close together with her. He knew that she fancied him, he just wished that she could understand that his hearts were broken. He couldn't be like that with her now, maybe never with anyone again. Any chances of love in his life were gone. Trapped in a parallel universe with his Rose.

 

He was torn from his painful thoughts by a flash of light as someone appeared right in front of him and promptly collapsed onto the ground. The Doctor's hearts both skipped a beat as he gazed upon the fallen figure. It couldn't be her. Running to the woman's side, he rolled her onto her back and saw that she did indeed look like Rose. In a panic over why she was unconscious, he immediately checked her pulse and fell backwards, painfully landing his bum on the hard pavement when he felt a double pulse.

 

“What?!” he gasped.

 

The Doctor suddenly noticed a mental connection with her. He didn't understand how because he had never done anything like that with Rose, but it was unmistakable. Even out of her proper time with him, he could feel a marriage bond with this beautiful woman. He was nearly brought to tears. There was no one else this could be. The bond proved that she wasn't an impostor. Ignoring the mystery of how in the world she had two heartbeats for the moment, he picked her up off of the sidewalk and carried her back to the flat.

 

He barely used his bed anyway, so he placed her carefully down and used his sonic to scan her for injuries that might explain her unconscious state. What he found was fully Time Lady biology. His hearts stuttered yet again. How was this possible? How was she in this universe? How was she in this time with him? How had she changed species?

 

Never mind all that now. Why was she unconscious? He checked the readings on his sonic again. She had an incredible amount of artron radiation running through her system. It was almost as if she had just regenerated. She was a Time Lady. Perhaps she had? But she looked like his Rose. No matter. He quickly went to make tea. That should help her.

 

As he was preparing the tea, Martha returned to the flat from work. He barely noticed her while he frantically prepared the pot just the way he knew Jackie used to do, intent on making it the way he knew Rose liked. Martha must have been trying to get his attention for a while because by the time he heard her shouting at him she had a hand on his arm.

 

“Doctor!” she yelled.

 

“What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?” he replied frantically.

 

“Who's that girl in your room? What's wrong with her?” Martha questioned.

 

“Wrong with her? Why do you say that? Did something happen?” he gasped and ran back to the bedroom to check on her again.

 

“I was asking because she seems to be more than asleep. Who is she?” Martha insisted.

 

He had his fingers on her wrist to check her pulses again while he was there and suddenly noticed the silver bracelet on her wrist. The Doctor stared at it in shock. He recognized it as one of the relics from Gallifrey, but when he read the writing on it, it was clear that it belonged to Rose. The engraved rose vines and the words 'Bad Wolf' scrawled across its surface further confirmed for him that this had to be his Rose beyond a doubt.

 

“She's Rose,” he whispered in awe of her very presence. “Tea!” he shouted suddenly as the kettle on the stove began to whistle and he ran back to the kitchen.

 

“Rose... of course,” Martha sighed sadly as she looked at the woman on the bed.

 

The Doctor ran back into the room carrying a pot of tea and a cup, already containing Rose's preferred amount of cream and sugar. He poured the tea after allowing it a few minutes to steep and pulled Rose up to a seated position, leaning against him. He tilted her head back slightly and held the cup to her lips as he poured the tea slowly into her mouth.

 

Rose began to swallow it on her own and her eyes popped open after a few gulps. She immediately sat up and started looking around the room. “Where am I this time? How much sugar did you put into that, Alex? Ugh... do I like my tea that way now?” she rambled confusedly.

 

“Alex?” the Doctor questioned.

 

Rose turned to him and rolled her eyes which he realized were now icy blue rather than the warm brown that he was accustomed to seeing. “Yes, Doctor Alex Tyler,” she said slowly as if he had dribbled on his shirt and pulled out her bonding pendant. “Or did you forget who you are, Doctor? Where's Evander? Why does he feel so far away?”

 

“Evander? Rose, you seem to be out of your proper timeline. I can feel it up here,” he told her with a tap to his temple. “But I'm not your husband yet.”

 

“What are you on about, Alex? When are we?” Rose asked him.

 

“We're stuck in 1969,” he told her.

 

“1969? Is Missy after the past you again? But I was just with leather? We had Christmas with Susan and then Jack was there... what are we doing with the third you again?” Rose babbled.

 

“Susan? Rose, have you been crossing my timeline?” the Doctor questioned.

 

“God! What's the matter with you? You were there, Alex! We've got to go find three. Missy is going to kill him for sure!” Rose shouted and ran out of the room, the Doctor following close behind.

 

“What's the matter with her, Doctor?” Martha shouted as she chased the couple worriedly.

 

“I'm not positive, Martha, but I think she just regenerated and is a bit confused,” the Doctor told her.

 

“What do you mean you _think_ I just regenerated? You were there! Missy was trying to kill me before Bad Wolf and I jumped in front of the blast because the younger me couldn't regenerate yet. Honestly! I feel him... I think he's at UNIT. We'd best get over there,” she rambled, running down the street.

 

“Regenerated? What does that even mean, Doctor?” Martha asked.

 

“Rose! Rose, you're right. I'm a complete idiot right now. I think there might be something wrong with my memory. Can you remind me who Missy is?” the Doctor tried playing along with her confusion as best he could since he couldn't seem to convince her that he was from her past at the moment. He stopped her running for the moment and held her arms as he waited for an explanation.

 

“Missy? The Mistress... formerly the Master... formerly your friend Kochei. Remember now?” Rose said to him slowly.

 

The Doctor's hearts began to beat faster. The Master. How? Never mind. Focus.

 

“Right. Of course. How long have you been bouncing through my timeline, now?” he wondered.

 

“Umm. I dunno. I was only with the first one for an hour or two. The second one might have been about a day. It was a few days with three, I remember that,” she said with a smirk. “The fourth one was probably about two days because it was night time when we went to look for Leonardo. Five was really short... well, there was the shagging and then sleeping for a bit and then the shower... maybe it wasn't so short after all...” she trailed off as she gazed into the distance dreamily for a moment.

 

“Right. So, you've been visiting every one of my lives then?” he asked her, trying desperately and failing to ignore the shagging comment for the time being.

 

“Of course I have, Alex. Why don't you remember?”

 

“Which Doctor did you see last?” he questioned.

 

“The leather one. The one I met first, of course. I told you, Missy tried to kill the younger me and I stopped her,” Rose insisted.

 

“Ok. And which Doctor comes after the leather one, Rose?” he prompted, hoping that she would realize when she was in his life.

 

“The one that looked like you before the twenty-seven planets, silly. Wonder when I'll see him again?” she mused and started running again. “We've got to get to three before Missy does!” she shouted over her shoulder.

 

“Right,” he sighed and hoped that maybe his third incarnation could convince her that he didn't remember any of this right now.

 

Martha followed along, as usual, completely lost.


	24. Blink Downtime: Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't resist... two Tennants and a Capaldi? Mmmmm enjoy.

Chapter Twenty-Four – Blink Downtime: Part One

 

 

Rose stormed into the front doors of UNIT and tried to go straight to the Doctor's laboratory. An officer stopped her, of course.

 

“Excuse me, Miss. You can't go through there without clearance,” he asserted.

 

“Right. I need to see the Doctor. I need to see him right away,” Rose insisted.

 

“Sorry about that. Got a bit behind,” the pinstriped Doctor said when he caught up with her. He held out his psychic paper to the UNIT officer, who let them through with Martha as well.

 

“Who's your companion right now, Doctor?” Rose asked him.

 

“Me,” Martha interjected harshly.

 

“What? Martha don't be silly. You didn't meet the Doctor in 1969, you met him on the moon. Is your memory messed up too?” Rose questioned.

 

“How do you even know me? I've never met you before!” Martha exclaimed angrily.

 

“Oh my god, Martha, you were at the wedding,” Rose said with a roll of her eyes and she marched down the hallway towards the Doctor's lab. “Doctor!” she called as she entered the room.

 

“I beg your pardon, young lady. Oh my word,” the third Doctor gasped as he felt the bond between them.

 

“Ok. Done this plenty of times now, I have to unlock some memories for you, Doctor,” she told the man in the ruffled shirt. He allowed her to touch his temples as she unlocked the memories of meeting her in his first and second incarnations, as well as in the park with Liz before they had found Evander.

 

“Right. Missy is still at it then? Where's the other one?” the Doctor questioned.

 

“What is going on? What other one? Why does she keep calling me Alex?” the pinstriped Doctor insisted, now that he was with someone who should be more reasonable about his level of knowledge.

 

Rose growled in frustration at his insistence of not knowing what was happening.

 

“Rose, love, stop for a moment. You look different from the last time I saw you. Did something happen?” the younger Doctor asked.

 

Rose nodded stiffly and tears welled in her eyes. “Missy was there with the younger me and she wanted to kill me before I opened the heart of the TARDIS. If she killed me then, then I couldn't save you and I wouldn't have changed and everything would fall apart,” she explained.

 

“Alright,” he said as he took her into his arms and rubbed her back. He saw the pinstriped Doctor that he was familiar with standing nearby with a dark skinned woman. He looked like Alex, but perhaps younger? Oh! “Rose, which version of me were you with when you regenerated?” he asked her.

 

“Why do you two keep asking me that? I was with the first Doctor that I met when I was younger,” she told them.

 

“Rose, the reason that Alex seems so confused right now, is because that isn't Alex. That's the Doctor before the split. He really doesn't know what happened to you,” the younger Doctor explained.

 

“What?” Rose asked and looked back toward the pinstriped Doctor. He had his hands in his pockets and nodded. “I... right,” she stuttered and moved towards him to unlock his memories of the events up to her last meeting with him.

 

When the pinstriped Doctor opened his eyes and looked at her again, he began to cry. “You're coming back. Oh Rose, you're coming back!” he shouted and picked her up into a spinning hug.

 

Rose giggled and he kissed her soundly before putting her back on the floor. “I'm so sorry. I think my head is clearing now. Nothing was making sense. I just knew that I had to stop Missy before she could go back and try to kill this Doctor again,” she explained, seeming more coherent than she had through the whole visit.

 

“Again?” the third Doctor questioned.

 

“She's already seen you, but later for you, as well as the next few. I'm actually stuck here right now. A group of Weeping Angels have the TARDIS in the future and sent us back here. I've got all the instructions to get us back, I just have to wait for someone... oh never mind. Let's just worry about Missy, yeah?” the pinstriped Doctor informed them.

 

“Weeping Angels? Right! You told me about this one. Oh my god, Martha! I'm so sorry I spoke to you that way earlier. It made perfect sense in my mind at the time, but you haven't even met me yet. I'm Rose, as you've gathered, I'm sure,” she babbled. “Ooh, I don't usually ramble like this do, I? Did I pick up your gob this time, Doctor? Oh! How did I do? Did I get my old look right? I was really trying to get me to look like the old me!” 

 

Martha looked at Rose, a little shell shocked and confused. She thought that Rose had been a human companion of the Doctor, but that didn't seem to be the case. She wasn't quite understanding who this other guy was that they were calling Doctor, either.

 

Both Doctors chuckled at her. “You did better than I could have done. Your eyes are blue instead of brown and I don't think you'll need the hair dye anymore. Perhaps we can find you some clothes that will fit a little better inside the TARDIS?” the pinstriped Doctor suggested.

 

“And perhaps you ought to contact your future Doctors, to let them know you're here,” the younger Doctor added.

 

“Right. They must be worried sick about me after the regeneration,” Rose agreed and closed her eyes to signal her husbands.

 

“Alright, can someone PLEASE explain what the hell is going on?” Martha demanded and crossed her arms over her chest.

 

“Right, sorry. Let's start with regeneration. Ummm....” the pinstriped Doctor began and rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about how to approach this explanation.

 

“Let me!” Rose exclaimed happily. “Ok, Martha. So, Time Lords have this trick when they're about to die. They change their whole body to look completely different and their personality and everything changes, yeah? That man, in the velvet jacket and ruffled shirt, is the third Doctor. And that man, in the tight pinstriped suit and _gorgeous_ hair, is the eleventh Doctor. This is now the third me because I opened the heart of the TARDIS to save the Doctor and keep the Daleks from taking over the universe and while I was at it, changed species so that I could stay with him forever,” Rose explained, concluding with a wide smile, her tongue poking through the corner of her teeth.

 

The pinstriped Doctor growled at the sight of it and pulled her into a fierce snog, sucking her tongue into his mouth and exploring her mouth with his own. His hands roamed over her body hungrily, as if he had forgotten that they weren't alone in the room. Really, he didn't particularly care because he had missed her so much.

 

The younger Doctor cleared his throat pointedly. “Perhaps it would be best if you went into the TARDIS to find her some better fitting clothes, as you had mentioned earlier,” he suggested.

 

The older Doctor looked up, rather drunkenly and nodded. “Right, yeah. Come on, Rose! To the wardrobe!” he shouted happily and entwined their fingers before pulling her into the third Doctor's TARDIS happily.

 

The third Doctor watched them run into the TARDIS with amusement. He gathered from his future self's reaction, that this was during the time of their separation. The Doctor didn't think it was possible to see the pinstriped version of himself any more bouncy than Alex had always seemed, but he was wrong. The knowledge that he would get her back after losing her seemed to be enough to throw this version into a spin.

 

“Figures,” Martha scoffed and crossed her arms as she leaned against the counter nearby.

 

“How long have you been travelling in the TARDIS?” he asked her curiously.

 

She scoffed. “Hasn't been much travelling at all lately. I mean, at first yeah, we went all over the place. Met Shakespeare and different galaxies and everything, but we've been stuck here for a month already, me working in a shop while he's off doing god knows what. And before this, we were in 1913 for more than two months, with him changed into a human and didn't even know who he was. I was stuck working as a maid of all things! And it's always, Rose this, and Rose that. God. I don't know why I even bother anymore,” Martha ranted angrily, seeming to forget that it was the Doctor himself that she was talking to.

 

“I'm sorry,” he said matter-of-factly. “If it makes you feel any better, I'm currently stranded as well. The Time Lords are punishing me for interfering and the TARDIS is stuck here. It will likely be far longer than a few months,” the Doctor told her.

 

“Interfering? Seems to me like that's all you ever do,” she laughed.

 

“Yes, well... some things are more important than some people's rules,” he defended himself with a smile.

 

It was at that moment, that another TARDIS materialized in the room. Alex ran out immediately and frantically asked, “Where is she?!”

 

“Wardrobe room,” the third Doctor replied with a nod toward his own TARDIS.

 

Without another word, he dashed into the other box. Evander emerged from the TARDIS then and followed with a smirk.

 

“Who was that then?” Martha asked the ruffle-shirted Doctor.

 

“It's a rather long story and I only know parts of it, of course. Would you care to help me with this experiment while I do my best to explain?” he suggested and she nodded with a smile.

 

************************************

 

The pinstriped Doctor tugged her down the hallways of the TARDIS toward the wardrobe room urgently. Rose giggled at his exuberance. She knew how much he was missing her, he had shared those feelings during their bonding. It was different for her now that she had been back with him for several years, but she understood.

 

When they reached their destination, he immediately slammed the door shut behind them and wrapped his arms around her like an octopus. He groaned into her mouth desperately and threaded his fingers through her hair. It was a bit tangled, since she had just regenerated and then there was everything that had followed, but feeling his long fingers against her scalp made her moan as well. The Doctor's other arm slid down to her lower back as he pressed her hips firmly against his.

 

They had both engaged their respiratory bypass during their extended round of tonsil hockey, only breaking apart at the sound of the door opening. Alex and Evander entered then and not only closed the door behind them, but locked it as well.

 

“May I help you?” the pinstriped Doctor questioned, annoyed by their intrusion.

 

“Well... we are both perfectly understanding of your desire to not let her out of your sight, however, we are rather insistent that we not be left out of the first time with this incarnation of our wife,” Alex informed him with a smirk, his hands in his pockets as he rocked on his heels.

 

“Aren't we supposed to be looking for clothes?” Evander suggested and sent both of his spouses some mental images that portrayed several rather explicit options for this adventure.

 

Rose and Alex shivered at the ideas blissfully, but the other Doctor looked between them with slight confusion. “I don't...” he started, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

 

Rose approached him with a sultry swing in her hips. She ran her hands down his lapels and he felt a wave of lust over the bond he had with her. “Trust me, Doctor. What he just suggested, you're going to like,” she assured him.

 

Rose made a few mental requests of the TARDIS and three chairs appeared nearby. Several clothing racks and a large, pink and black, folding screen materialized as well. She smiled impishly and pushed them towards the chairs. They obediently seated themselves as they watched her dash back to the racks of clothing. It was impossible to see her from where she was buried, but they could hear her clearly as she told them, “I think we can safely say, that these will not do.”

 

They watched as a white blouse with gold embroidery flew through the air onto the floor in front of them. It was followed shortly by a flared, red skirt. Her shiny, red shoes were kicked to the side, one at a time, each landing with a bit of a thud. All three Doctors smiled at each other, realizing exactly what she had planned.

 

Rose reappeared, covered completely by a large, winter cloak. They recognized it was the one he wore in his first incarnation whenever they went somewhere cold. She also had the ridiculous hat he used to wear with it, perched on her head lopsidedly. Her legs were bare as she walked over to them.

 

“You know, Rose, I think he was right when he said that you did a very good job of copying your first body. At least as far as your face goes. But, having been the only one of us that was ever with that body sexually, I think I'd be the best judge of whether or not you got the other... details the same,” Alex told her with a waggle of his eyebrows.

 

“I think I proved just how well I know her body with that visit to Rome, thank you very much,” the Doctor argued.

 

“He has got you there, Alex,” Rose admitted and took the hat from her head, to place it on the Doctor's head. He smiled up at her and tried to grab her hips to pull her closer, but she danced away from him, laughing.

 

“Evander deserves a fair bit of attention this time around though, since you were also the first after my last regeneration, Alex,” she told them as she moved next to Evander and removed the cloak from her shoulders to wrap it around his playfully.

 

Beneath the cloak, she was wearing a large, black suit coat. It appeared to be the one he wore in his second life and she stood directly in front of Alex, who happened to be seated in the middle of the three Doctors as she unfastened the buttons on the jacket. He gulped loudly as she pulled it open and leaned forward to place it around his shoulders instead. She was now clad in only her undergarments. The bra and panties were matching red lace and she gasped at the rush of lust she felt from all three of them through their bonds. Before any of them could grasp onto her though, she ducked away from them.

 

“I don't think any of those things suited this me at all. What do you think?” she asked coyly.

 

“Definitely not,” Evander rasped through the haze of lust clouding his mind.

 

Rose giggled again, teasing them with a tongue-touched grin and running back into the clothing racks.

 

“You suggested this?” the Doctor questioned. “This is torture! Bloody brilliant torture, but torture nonetheless!”

 

They could hear Rose laughing again and she shouted, “Patience, Doctor!”

 

When Rose appeared again, she was wearing a ruffled shirt, a multi-coloured coat and a long, wool scarf. She swung the end of the scarf around playfully as she approached the trio whose patience wasn't likely to make it through this little game much longer.

 

“The scarf!” the Doctor groaned and sent her images of the things that he had planned to do with the scarf during his fourth life after their time alone in a cupboard.

 

“Hmm, you think that's nice? How about this?” she asked as she pulled a turquoise tie from the pocket of the jacket she was wearing.

 

All of them sighed heavily at the memory of tying her wrists to the console with that very strip of cloth and taking her from behind against the console. She wrapped the tie around her neck and tied it into a loose bow, similar to how he used to wear it, though she didn't put it in the collar of the shirt. She approached Evander first this time and playfully wrapped the end of the scarf around his wrists, guiding his hands then, to slide up her thigh and over her bottom before pulling away to stand before Alex. She wrapped his arms in the next section of scarf and placed his hands on her sternum before sliding them down over her chest. The last Doctor smirked at her as she took the rest of the scarf and looped it around his neck before wrapping his wrists as well.

 

Rose straddled the Doctor's lap and he groaned as it placed her wet heat right over his hands. The angle, however, made it impossible for him to touch her properly. Finally free from the scarf herself, she removed the jacket over her shoulders and tossed it onto the floor behind her. She stood up from the Doctor's lap and turned to sit in Alex's lap with her back to his front and looked at him over her shoulder. 

 

“Did I get my bottom quite right, Alex? You said you'd be the best judge of that after all,” she teased and his bound hands struggled to grasp the barely clothed arse that was currently driving him spare.

 

“Yup,” he managed to squeak before feeling completely bereft as she got up from his lap as well.

 

Rose had managed to unfasten the buttons of the ruffled shirt and leaned over Evander to toss it behind him. Her breasts were breathtakingly close to his face and he leaned his head down to kiss them softly. She was once again wearing nothing but the gorgeous lingerie that she was wearing before as she strutted back to the various racks of clothing. The Doctors took advantage of the break from her teasing to extricate themselves from the various items she had covered them with.

 

Her next ensemble was perhaps the most disjointed of them all. She wore a pair of grey breeches that fit her surprisingly well. In contrast however, she wore a large, black leather jacket that they all knew very well. She was leaning on a rainbow coloured umbrella with a red, question mark handle playfully as she smirked at her Doctors.

 

“You know, I don't think I'm having any luck at all, finding clothes that suit this new me. What do you think, boys?” she asked them as she strolled across the room slowly.

 

“I think you're absolutely right, love,” Alex told her.

 

“You should definitely take all of that off right this instant,” the Doctor agreed.

 

“And maybe later, we'll give you some assistance with finding something to wear, but for now, darling, you should be wearing absolutely nothing at all,” Evander concluded.

 

She tossed the umbrella aside and allowed the jacket to fall off of her shoulders with the same thump it had created when she had pushed it off of his shoulders during their last encounter.

 

“I think you might be right. But I think that all three of you happen to be wearing far too many clothes as well,” she said as she reached for the zip on her breeches.

 

In minutes, all four people in the room had absolutely no clothing at all covering them. She placed a hand on each of the chests of her nearly matching Doctors and urged them back to the chairs they had vacated. Alex looked slightly older than the past Doctor due to the complications of the meta-crisis, but they otherwise looked the same. She knelt down on the floor in front of them with a wide smile and mentally urged Evander behind her. He was happy to oblige, knowing that he would be the first to breech the semi-virginity of this new incarnation. For the time being, however, he reached around her to appreciate her breasts and kiss the back of her neck.

 

Rose knew that Alex adored receiving oral sex from her felt it was a fairly safe assumption that this Doctor would like it as well. Seeing what she had planned, both of them abandoned the chairs and knelt on the floor in front of her so that their long legs wouldn't be in the way. She took each of them in hand and stroked firmly as they took turns claiming her mouth with their gloriously agile tongues.

 

She gasped as Evander slipped a finger inside of her and decided that it was time to move on to the next phase of her plan. Rose leaned over to the Doctor's erection and wrapped her mouth around the tip, maintaining eye contact the whole time. She had done this for his fourth incarnation and plenty of times for her husbands, but she knew it was different with this Doctor. The one who had been holding back from her the whole time that they were together originally.

 

The Doctor groaned loudly as her tongue swirled around him and she bobbed her head to take him completely into her mouth. His fingers tangled in her hair gently as he forced himself not to pull her in to take him deeper. She continued to stroke Alex with her other hand and moaned herself when Evander pressed a second finger into her, massaging the spot that would turn her to jelly. He was doing extremely well at finding the best ways to please her newest body, but he had always had a knack for paying close attention to what he felt was pleasing through their bond.

 

Rose replaced her hand around the Doctor's length and switched over to Alex, who rambled his unending love and gratitude to her in Gallifreyan as she sucked him deep into her mouth. She hummed happily, which made him gasp with pleasure and he twined his fingers with her free hand.

 

Evander positioned himself behind his wife and nodded to Alex that he might want to help support her shoulders or reposition slightly before he continued. Alex pulled Rose up into a kiss for a moment as the two Doctors in front of her sat on their heels, close together so that she could lie her upper body on their laps if needed. Evander grasped her hips and pulled her back against his, thrusting himself deep inside of her. Her cry of ecstasy made all of them shudder and they helped her to find a comfortable position as Evander took her from behind and she continued to please her pinstriped Doctors orally.

 

By the time all of the Doctors had found their release once, Rose had tumbled over the precipice several times. They all lay together on the floor of the wardrobe room, breathing heavily. The Doctors lay side by side, with her sprawled on top of them. She started to giggle as her mind wandered.

 

“What's so funny, Ms. Tyler?” Evander asked, his voice sounding gravelly after the exertion.

 

“I was just thinking that we should have a reunion with all of you here with me,” Rose teased.

 

“You've been hanging around with Jack too much, young lady,” Alex chastised and tickled her ribs.

 

Rose laughed and squirmed away from his hand, rolling herself onto the past Doctor.

 

“Yeah, what exactly was the deal with Jack? I hadn't planned to go near him again after he was turned into a fixed point,” he asked them, earning himself a glare from Rose.

 

“Oooh, best not talk about that. You know better!” Alex replied.

 

Rose laughed and got up from the floor on wobbly legs. She giggled slightly as she stumbled over to where the Doctor had tossed his clothing. The Doctors laughed as they watched her. She picked up his long, brown trench coat and put it on. The bottom dragged on the floor slightly, but she didn't care. His discarded tie was next, followed by the sexy specs that she found in his jacket pocket.

 

“What do you think, boys? Will this do?” she asked as she struck a pose.

 

“Not quite,” Evander told her with a laugh.

 

“I think you might need a slightly shorter coat there, Rose,” the past Doctor added.

 

“She has a red one, but for some reason, I don't think you'll go for that again, will you?” Alex questioned.

 

“No, I don't think so. Well, boys, I give up. Your turn to play dress up,” she said with a wink.

 

Her Doctors got up from where they were sitting on the floor. The past Doctor approached her and began to take his things off of her, then folded her in his arms with a happy sigh. Alex and Evander had wandered off into the racks of clothing to search for items they thought would suit her.

 

When Alex returned, he was holding a familiar pink dress and high heels. His eyebrows were raised hopefully, making Rose laugh. “I knew you liked that one!” she teased. “But is it really practical for all of our adventures, love?”

 

He pouted adorably before admitting, “I suppose not, but I don't suppose we could plan another trip to the fifties sometime soon?”

 

“Whenever you'd like, Alex. We still haven't seen Elvis,” she agreed.

 

Evander came back with a pair of light coloured jeans, a sleeveless top, and a pink hoodie. Rose smiled at him. He was so good at reading her and she loved him for it. She grabbed some comfortable, but cute underclothes from the shelf nearby and dressed in the functional clothing happily.

 

“Ah! Just a second!” the pinstriped Doctor exclaimed and he ran off for a moment, returning with a pair of pink converse sneakers.

 

They all laughed and she rewarded him with a kiss as he handed them to her. When everyone was properly dressed, they decided it was time to return to the Doctor's laboratory. Their little break had been necessary, but they knew that Missy wouldn't have been idle all that time.

 


	25. Blink Downtime: Part Two

Chapter Twenty-five – Blink Downtime: Part Two

 

 

Three Doctors and Rose exited the TARDIS to find Martha and the third incarnation of the Doctor laughing loudly.

 

“I checked with the nurse and everything. He was alright, so I asked one of the students if they saw what happened. Said that he fell arse over tea kettle down the stairs backwards, books flying everywhere!” Martha exclaimed.

 

“Oh, enough of that! I could hardly be blamed for not noticing the staircase when some woman was flirting with me, could I?” the pinstriped Doctor argued.

 

“Well, it's not like you aren't used to it, Doctor,” Rose said with a raised eyebrow.

 

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and stuttered, “Well, I... it's not like I go looking for it, Rose!”

 

“Ooh! I just snogged Madame de Pompadour!” she singsonged teasingly, but all of the Doctors could see that there was still some hurt in it.

 

“Hey now, that was a very long time ago and we talked about that,” Alex said as he pulled her into a hug.

 

“I know. Sorry, I guess the idea of Joan Redfern just brought up bad memories,” she admitted.

 

“I wasn't even myself at the time! And I dreamt about you almost every night, Rose!” the pinstriped Doctor tried to defend himself.

 

“Alright, alright, I know. Anyway, we have more important things to worry about. How are we going to find Missy before she blows up the city or something? The last time we were here was after this and UNIT didn't know anything about Missy or the Master. That means that they can't be involved in whatever happens now,” Rose told them, allowing her old feelings of jealousy to slip away. All four of the Doctors present sent her mental caresses and she sighed.

 

“Who is she anyway?” Martha questioned.

 

“Another Time Lord, well Lady. The Master was a friend of mine when we were children, but he went completely insane and kept trying to take over the universe. He died several times, but kept coming back. The High Council brought him back for the War, thinking he'd be the perfect soldier, but he ran away and hid. I hate to say it, and you won't remember any of this later anyway, but you'll be meeting him very soon,” Alex explained.

 

“You are not alone,” the pinstriped Doctor whispered. “The Face of Boe said that. You are not alone.”

 

The trio from the future gave each other knowing looks. They couldn't tell this Doctor or Martha anything important really. It would be bad enough knowing that Missy would likely reveal too much once they ran into her.

 

“Right,” Evander said, breaking the silence and clearing his throat. “So, we have to find Missy, not involve UNIT, and keep everyone alive. And, of course, if possible, get that blasted thing off of Missy's wrist so that she can't keep dragging herself along our timeline and bringing Rose with her.”

 

“Missy isn't likely to stay hidden for long. The Master always had a flare for the dramatic,” the youngest Doctor interjected.

 

“True, but she would stay hidden until she felt she was ready to spring whatever she had planned. Might be best to split up and search the area for anything suspicious. Rose materialized just a block or so from the flat where we're staying right now. Missy shouldn't be too far away,” the pinstriped Doctor suggested.

 

“Right. We should probably go in pairs for safety,” Rose agreed.

 

“Rose is with me!” both Alex and his almost twin called at the same time. They glared at each other angrily.

 

“Since the youngest Doctor is probably at the most risk from Missy, I think I'd feel safer watching over him, actually,” Rose told them pointedly.

 

“Evander could watch over him. Or Martha! You know how amazing Martha is, Rose,” Alex argued.

 

“I know that the Martha who has walked a war torn world for a year, worked with UNIT, and Torchwood, and freelanced with Mickey has incredible skills, love. But Martha right now, is a brilliant medical student and unbelievably loyal friend of yours. She's amazing, but I'm not going to ask her to play defence, thank you very much. You'll be safest with my Evander, Martha, what do you think?” Rose told them.

 

“Um, alright,” Martha replied, not quite sure what to make of all the things that Rose had just said about her.

 

“I'll stay with this Doctor,” Rose told them as she took hold of a velvet clad arm. “And you two, try not to kill each other, please?”

 

“Fine,” both pinstriped Doctors said together as they crossed their arms and refused to look at each other.

 

Martha laughed at their matching expressions. She couldn't help but be amused at how easily Rose ordered him about. She had known from the beginning that he was besotted with his 'friend' Rose that wasn't around for whatever reason. Martha wanted to hate the woman that she had been constantly compared to, but she seemed quite capable and had been nothing but complimentary to her.

 

“Let's go then,” Martha suggested as she walked over to her assigned partner.

 

“Alright. Be careful, darling,” Evander said and gave Rose a kiss before leaving with Martha.

 

Once they were back outside of UNIT and walking toward where Rose had first appeared, Evander suggested, “Let's look in the area West of the flat, I think.”

 

“Sounds good. It's this way,” she told him.

 

“I know. I do remember this after all,” he informed her.

 

“Are you really the Doctor?” she questioned disbelievingly.

 

“Yes, Martha, I am really the Doctor. It's been a little over a thousand years since this trip for me, but you know how incredible my brain is. I don't forget a thing,” he replied proudly. Evander then stopped for a minute to look at the street sign in front of them confusedly for a moment before Martha tugged him off to the left.

 

“Ok, now I believe it,” she said with a laugh at his typical arrogance showing through. “I know you can't tell me much about the future, but how about the present. Where is Rose for my Doctor? He just keeps saying she's gone or she's lost, but where is she?”

 

“Trapped,” he replied. “You know what happened at Canary Wharf; your cousin was there. Well, you know some of what happened. Rose and I opened the breech that sucked all of the Daleks and Cybermen into the Void. The problem was that since both of us had crossed into another universe before, we were also getting pulled in. We had these, special clamps that helped us to hold on, but one of the levers that was holding open the Void slipped and Rose let go of her clamp to set it back in place. She was rescued from the Void at the last second, but it meant that she was trapped in another universe and I couldn't get to her.”

 

“But you got her back eventually, obviously,” Martha commented, trying to absorb this new information about the woman she had grown to loathe in her time with the Doctor.

 

“She's the one that found a way back to me, actually. She built a device she called the Dimension Cannon and blasted herself across hundreds of universes to try and find me again,” he explained, clearly proud of her accomplishments and her devotion.

 

“Certainly can't match up to that, I suppose,” Martha sighed.

 

“Now, Martha, don't sell yourself short. You did some amazing things during our time travelling together and you'll be doing even more amazing things in your future. You are a brilliant young lady, but believe me when I say, that you don't want a relationship with a thousand year old alien. I was never the man for you. You deserve someone who will treat you as an equal and a partner. I'm not that kind of man. Your husband, on the other hand...” he trailed off and gave her a knowing smirk.

 

Martha smiled back. She was far more comfortable thinking of this Doctor as the far older alien that she knew he was. He was right, of course. She had already determined that as much as she was physically attracted to her Doctor, and was in awe of his abilities, he would never treat her the way that she deserved to be treated as a partner.

 

“So, maybe we can get a better view of the surrounding area if we can get up higher,” Evander suggested and jumped to try and pull down the ladder of a fire escape on the side of one of the nearby buildings. It was stuck, of course, so he swung from it rather precariously while he reached into his pocket for his sonic. He was hoping to break apart the rusted areas enough to loosen it. It took a few minutes of clinging to the rusted ladder like an overgrown monkey and switching sonic settings a few times, but the ladder eventually slid down with a piercing squeak and allowed Evander to plant his feet firmly on the ground again.

 

“There we are! Ladies first,” Evander announced proudly and gestured for Martha to precede him up the ladder.

 

Martha, however, was nowhere in sight. Evander looked around confusedly.

 

“Martha? Martha, where are you?” he called. “You weren't the one that kept wandering off,” Evander protested and let go of the ladder to search the surrounding alleyways. ~'I think I may have lost Martha,'~ he admitted with much embarrassment to Rose and Alex.

 

************************************************

 

Alex and his younger looking twin set out to explore another area of town. The only differences in their outfits were the patterns in their ties, since Alex had long abandoned the clothes that he had bought while away from the TARDIS in favour of his old collection from the wardrobe.

 

“How long? Until she's back?” the younger Doctor asked.

 

“For you, it's about two years still,” Alex admitted.

 

“Missy said something about being stuck with her the last time. I remember that now,” he said thoughtfully as they continued to scan the streets for anything that looked suspicious.

 

“She's been saying far too much. Believe me, I wish that you could know that Rose was coming back during the coming year. That hope for the future would make it all far more tolerable, but you will make it through and you will see her again,” Alex told him assuredly.

 

“As long as we can get through this mess alive,” the Doctor replied and used his sonic to check the area for anything unusual.

 

Alex groaned loudly when he got Evander's message.

 

“What? What's wrong?” the Doctor asked worriedly.

 

“Evander has lost Martha,” Alex told him. “Come on,” he added as he pulled the younger Doctor with him in the direction he could feel Evander was waiting for them.

 

“How did he lose Martha? She doesn't wander off,” the Doctor protested.

 

*****************************************************************

 

“How long have you been at this now, Rose?” the third Doctor asked her as they strolled down the street arm-in-arm.

 

“I dunno really, the days are all kind of blurring together now. A week and a half? Maybe two? Doesn't matter. It's just another adventure,” she told him and squeezed his arm, happy to be back with this very young Doctor again.

 

“An adventure that's cost you one of your regenerations, my dear. That's hardly nothing,” he responded worriedly.

 

“Well, it gave me the opportunity to almost match my previous look anyway,” she said with her tongue-touched grin.

 

“So, this is similar to how you looked when you were human? Alex said your eyes weren't blue before,” the Doctor questioned.

 

“No, I used to have brown eyes and I only ever got this colour blonde out of a bottle,” she admitted with a laugh.

 

“You've gone through so much for me, Rose. Why?” he asked, genuinely not understanding why anyone would stay after all that she had done.

 

“You changed my life, Doctor. You taught me how important it is to make a difference in the universe. Make a stand when no one else will just because it is the right thing to do. I love you and I love our incredible way of life. Everything has been worth it, Doctor,” Rose insisted.

 

“Well then, we'd best find a way to stop Missy, so that you can get back to that incredible life that I can't wait to be a part of,” he responded with a fond smile. He couldn't say that he loved her back yet, he had only met her a few times, after all. But he could easily see why he would one day.

 

“Oh my god!” Rose sighed in exasperation.

 

“What is it?” he questioned.

 

“Somehow, my beloved Evander, has managed to lose Martha,” Rose told him and redirected them back towards her oldest husband.

 

The Doctor grumbled, losing his companions always meant trouble. Knowing that Missy was around, the trouble was likely quite serious. He had thought that with four versions of himself here, they should be able to avoid the worst possibilities.

 

When everyone had gathered where Evander was waiting for them, the younger pinstriped Doctor immediately pulled Rose into a tight hug, snuggling his nose into her hair affectionately. Rose couldn't help but giggle at him. 

 

“Don't leave,” he whispered desperately in her ear.

 

“Oh, my Doctor, you know this is only a visit. But you'll see me again soon,” she told him reassuringly. He clutched her even tighter at that, her statement seeming to have the opposite of its intended effect.

 

“What happened?” the third Doctor asked Evander.

 

“I was just trying to get the fire escape ladder down so that we could climb up and see a little further. When I finally got it loose, she was gone,” Evander explained.

 

“That doesn't sound like Martha at all. You didn't upset her did you?” Rose questioned.

 

“I don't think so,” he replied and sent her his memories of the last half hour.

 

“Hmm, no I don't think she seemed upset either from what you showed me,” she agreed. “Something must have happened to her. Can we track her somehow?”

 

“No, I don't think so. That's probably why she took Martha instead of one of us. Missy would know that our bond would allow us to sense each other's location,” Alex responded.

 

“Since you went to all the trouble of releasing that ladder, Doctor, why don't you join us?” Missy shouted from the roof of the building next to them. They could see Martha standing on the edge with a blaster firmly pointing into her back.

 

“Shit,” Rose cursed under her breath, earning herself a surprised glance from the third Doctor.

 

None of them needed to be told twice to start climbing the ladder. Missy clearly had no problem with killing Martha to get her way with them. When they all gathered on the roof, Rose placed herself protectively in front of the younger two Doctors.

 

“Not bad, Rose. Considering your lack of training and knowledge of Time Lord biology, you managed a very passable approximation of your previous self with that regeneration. I'm impressed, although I do think that the other one was better,” Missy chatted casually as if she didn't have their friend balanced precariously on the ledge of a rather tall building.

 

“Just let Martha down from there, please,” Rose asked her.

 

“Well, since you asked so politely,” Missy replied and pulled Martha down by the back of her jacket to fall on her bum with a hard thump.

 

“Hey! Are you alright, Martha?” the younger pinstriped Doctor shouted in defence of his companion.

 

“Fine,” she grumbled and struggled back to her feet.

 

“Oh, Rose, you needn't protect that one,” Missy said with a nod to Alex's twin. “If I contented myself with that one, I'd be trapping my past incarnation at the end of the universe. As a human!” she added with a look of disgust.

 

“Where we should have left you to rot,” Evander told her angrily.

 

“Oh, but this little trip has given me another chance at this one,” Missy announced cheerily with a fond look toward the third Doctor.

 

Rose stood directly in front of the ruffle-shirted Doctor, shielding him from Missy's blaster. “I won't let you do this, Missy. Stop this ridiculous plan of yours. Honestly, is your sole purpose in life to destroy the Doctor? Surely, there has to be more to life than that.”

 

“Blah, blah, blah. You really have become like him, you know that, Rose?” Missy mocked with a roll of her eyes, “Stop this plan, there must be another way. We can all travel together and sing Kumbaya until the end of time!”

 

Evander laughed quietly and shook his head. “You know, you really are pathetic. Honestly, I deal with you once every few centuries at most, but you've spent how many lives doing nothing but chasing me? Get a hobby! Knitting's good. Parcheesi? I'm sick of this game, Missy. I left Gallifrey sixteen hundred years ago. You said you want your friend back, but we haven't been friends since the Academy! How long has that been for you? You've been through more than one set of regenerations already. You ran out while I was still in my fourth body! Go get a house and, I don't know, a cat and just live somewhere for a change,” Evander lectured as Missy glared at him petulantly.

 

“You pompous...” Missy began to reply but suddenly found herself pinned to the ground by Alex. He snatched the blaster from her hand and quickly turned it on her.

 

Rose pulled Martha away from the confrontation as everyone watched in shock as Alex angrily threatened Missy with the blaster directly in front of her face and his knee holding her shoulder to the ground. She looked genuinely afraid of the man hovering over her.

 

“Enough. This ends, Missy. Here and now. I've had enough of you threatening my past, threatening my wife, threatening to destroy the entire universe for some sick, twisted little game just because you can't find anything better to do,” Alex snarled at her.

 

“So what are you going to do then?” Missy asked, gaining a little of her usual bluster, but still obviously shaken by this turn in events. “Shoot me? You'd never do that. You haven't got the guts, you coward,” she sneered and in a flash, once again she was gone.

 

“No! Rose!” the youngest pinstriped Doctor shouted and fell to his knees. “Not again,” he sobbed as he covered his face with his hands.

 

The third Doctor watched sadly as Alex picked up his twin from the ground and helped him as they climbed back down the building. He said his goodbyes to Martha before going back to his lab at UNIT. Once Alex and Evander left with the other TARDIS, he would forget all about the meeting entirely.

 

Alex helped the Doctor to sit on a bench nearby as Evander and Martha watched him breaking down at the loss of his future wife once more. Alex understood how he felt even more than Evander did, despite the fact that Evander was the one that had to live without her for an extra thousand years. Alex still had very much the same personality and emotions as this Doctor, born out of the love for his precious pink and yellow girl.

 

“I can't... I can't breathe without her anymore,” he sobbed.

 

“Yes you can. You've been surviving so far and you will make it though all of this,” Alex consoled him and rubbed the back of his shoulders supportively. “When Martha has had enough of it all and moves on, you'll see Donna again. Remember Donna? She's looking for you. Like a sister, she was,” he told his past self sadly.

 

The Doctor was too deeply buried in his own sorrow to detect the regret in Alex's voice regarding Donna. He had liked her. She was strong and spirited, even if she did seem to miss the bigger picture in some ways. Two years, Alex had told him. What were two years to someone who had lived for a thousand? Too much without Rose.

 

“We can't bring her back for you any sooner, Doctor, but we can help a bit right now,” Evander told him and handed him a few of the components he was missing for his video camera to solve their Weeping Angel problem. They would still have to wait for Billy Shipton to arrive, but they'd be ready to leave as soon as he did.

 

The Doctor stared at the items for a moment before taking them and placing them in his pocket. His adjusted memories would make up some excuse as to how he had found them. “Thank you,” he sniffled. “Take care of her.”

 

“We will. We'll see you soon, Martha. He's going to have to hide your memories from today, but we'll pay you a visit once this is all over and uncover them for you,” Alex responded and patted the Doctor on the back before heading back to the TARDIS with Evander.

 

They both froze for a moment as new memories unlocked in their minds. They looked at each other fearfully and ran back to UNIT headquarters to retrieve their TARDIS. Missy wasn't their only problem now.

 

“What's the matter?” the third Doctor asked them urgently, noticing their panic.

 

“The Time Lord Victorious,” Evander snarled before closing the TARDIS door behind him. Alex flew them into the vortex immediately and Evander joined him in working out the calculations to rescue their terrified wife.

 


	26. The Time Lord Victorious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suppose I should put in a slight warning just in case it bothers anyone. This chapter is a bit dubcon. It seemed appropriate though for this version of the Doctor.

Chapter Twenty-Six – The Time Lord Victorious

 

 

The Doctor was aimlessly wandering London. In the entire universe, it seemed that this one city on this one tiny little planet seemed to suffer more problems than any other he had encountered. He had just saved them from an invasion of giant, metal, flying aliens last week. The blasted things had ripped a hole in space to fly from one planet to another so they could eat everything on it. Flying a London bus was fun, though.

 

As he strolled down the street, he was surprised to see a woman suddenly appear in front of him. She had dark hair and wore a rather Victorian looking purple dress. She was gasping a bit as she took in her surroundings and her eyes immediately locked onto him.

 

“Oh, Doctor! I'm so glad that I found you first,” she said as she ran to his side.

 

“What? What is it? What's going on?” he questioned the stranger. She was clearly a time traveller or at least not from this planet.

 

“There's this woman, she looks like Rose, but you can't trust her. She's looking for you. Now, I can't stay here, but I need to tell you, I know what your prophesy means. It's about the Master and I can stop it, but you have to keep her away from me,” the woman told him.

 

“Who are you? How do you know all this?” he asked warily. Why would someone impersonate Rose? Who would even know about her?

 

“There isn't time, I have work to do,” she told him and activated what he assumed was a teleport on her wrist, disappearing in a flash of light.

 

The Doctor felt something odd in his mind and taking the woman's warnings to heart, strengthened his mental shields against it. Whatever it was, was getting closer. It was then that a woman, who looked very much like Rose, ran around the corner and headed straight for him. Her smile was as bright and radiant as ever, but something seemed off.

 

“Doctor! There you are, why are you blocking me?” she asked curiously. “I know you don't remember what happened, but I can unlock some memories for you and you'll know exactly what's going on.”

 

“No. You aren't _her._ How dare you, whoever you are. How dare you try to pretend to be _her_!” the Doctor shouted at the woman before him. He was shocked when he could actually feel the hurt from her at his statement. Something strange was going on. His Rose was not telepathic and even if she were, he shouldn't be able to feel her like that. “She is safe in another universe and far away from whatever plan you have!”

 

“Doctor, please listen to me,” she begged, tears coming to eyes that he could see were blue instead of brown.

 

“No. But I'm not about to leave you here to do whatever it is you're planning,” he told her and grasped her wrist tightly, pulling her along behind him back to the TARDIS.

 

“But Doctor, I'm Rose! Please, you're hurting me,” she told him as she tried to get him to relax his grip slightly.

 

“I don't know who or what you are, but Rose's eyes are brown and she is definitely not telepathic. I was warned that you would be coming, so you might as well drop the charade right now,” he responded angrily. They had reached the outside of the TARDIS and he shoved her toward the doors.

 

The woman glared at him angrily and snapped her fingers, the TARDIS doors opening widely at her command. She marched inside and he followed after her quickly. “How the hell did you do that? Only I can do that!” he shouted at her.

 

“Oh please, I'm even more connected to her than you are, Doctor. Now if you won't listen to me, then listen to her, because she will tell you that I AM ROSE!” she told him and crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned against the console.

 

“You've somehow convinced the TARDIS that you are who you say you are or she wouldn't have opened the doors for you. But I'm not easily fooled. Explain then _'Rose'_ how you are here and not on Pete's World?” he demanded, glaring back at her with all the ferocity of the Oncoming Storm.

 

She sighed and rolled her eyes before responding, “Fine. This would go a lot faster if you'd just let me unlock the memories for you. After you left us there, Torchwood killed my entire family and tried to kill Alex as well (that's the name chosen by the other version of you), but I got in front of him and was shot. I regenerated and he used a vortex manipulator to take us back to our first trip into that universe. We hid in the zero room until the TARDIS was back on the estate and sent a message to Jack to come and pick us up after the Reality Bomb stuff was over. A lot of other things happened in between there, but the short version of why I'm here right now is that the Master is now the Mistress and she has a device that has her travelling through your timeline. She was trying to kill you in the past, but we've managed to stop her through all of your previous lives. The device is dragging me along with it because I'm bonded to you.”

 

She pulled a Gallifreyan bonding pendant out from under her shirt and the Doctor's eyes grew wide. He approached her as he stared at the orange stone in awe. He felt the woman's sincerity despite the walls he had put up around his mind. The TARDIS was also pleading with him to believe her, but he was terrified that what she was saying might be true.

 

“Where did you get this?” he whispered and reached out to touch it gently.

 

“Let me unlock those memories and you'll know where,” she replied.

 

He nodded, still staring at the pendant around her neck. She raised her fingers to his temples and he closed his eyes as memories through each of his past lives unlocked. Rose with a different face, jumping through his timeline. Then, during her visit with her younger self, she regenerated again, actively trying to recreate her original form, but her eyes inadvertently matching his leather-wearing incarnation's instead.

 

“Oh Rose!” he cried and pulled her into his arms tightly. “She took you from me again. I can stop her, now. I know I can,” he told her as he raced around the console to send them into the vortex.

 

“What? What are you doing? Doctor! We have to stop Missy. Where are you taking me?” she demanded.

 

“I'm just putting us into the vortex. No one can reach us here and it will give me time to find a way to block her device from pulling you anywhere. Don't you see? I can change it, Rose! I can change all of it and you can stay with me! I don't have to wait until I look like Evander to get you back. You can stay with me until we find your past form and then I'll never be without you again!” he rambled as he raced around the controls manically.

 

“You can't do that, Doctor! You'll create a paradox. There are very important reasons why I couldn't be with you, one of them being River,” she told him pointedly and he froze in place.

 

“No. I don't want her, Rose. I've only ever wanted you,” he told her and pulled her into a fierce kiss. She melted into his embrace despite how much his frame of mind was frightening her. He backed her toward the jump seat and lifted her onto it without breaking the kiss. He ground his hips against hers, groaning into her mouth at the delicious friction.

 

“We have to go back, Doctor,” she whispered as his kisses trailed down her neck and he unzipped her hoodie.

 

“No, this will be so much better, Rose. Don't you see? I can change it and we can be together now. I can't wait a thousand years for you. You're mine, my love,” he told her and began to whisper to her in lilting Gallifreyan as he removed the layers of her clothing.

 

Rose was hesitant to allow him this and knew that she could never let him change her past with Alex and Evander. She had been shown all of the reasons why this Doctor had to go through that time without her before they could be reunited. If the Silence had ever found out about her, she and Alex would have been in terrible danger. She sent the telepathic signal to her husbands to let them remember what was happening and could only hope that there was some way for them to get to her.

 

“Please, love, take us back to Earth so that we can stop Missy,” she pleaded as she allowed him to continue removing the layers of clothing between them.

 

“We are outside of time. You and I could spend an eternity here and still go back with time to spare. I will not let you go, my love. You are mine,” he insisted, punctuating the sentiment with a harsh bite to the flesh where her neck and shoulder met. 

 

Rose shrieked at the sudden mix of pleasure and pain that his physical claim inflicted. She felt a surge of lust from him through their bond at her reaction and he buried himself inside of her, thrusting deeply. She tried to push him away half-heartedly, knowing that they needed to stop this and get back to stop Missy. They needed to get her back with Alex and Evander. And they definitely could not change Rose's past. But as she tried to push him away, the Doctor grasped her hands and entwined their fingers tightly. He pulled her hands behind her back and pulled her harder against him as he continued pounding into her desperately. His whispers changed from those of love and devotion to simply repeating his claim on her over and over again.

 

He triggered something in her mind, some kind of telepathic g-spot that she had never felt before, making her come instantly as he released into her at the same time. He moaned loudly into her shoulder, refusing to release her from his arms.

 

Rose could hear the hum of the TARDIS change slightly, but wasn't sure exactly what was happening. She felt reassurance from the time ship and once again, tried to wriggle free from the Doctor's embrace. He held her tightly, still refusing to release her as if she might disappear the moment he wasn't touching her. He clutched her protectively against himself as the door slammed open and her future husbands stormed inside.

 

“What the hell do you think you're doing, you idiot!” Evander shouted at his younger self. “I know what a stupid prick I was at this point, but this just takes the cake.”

 

“How?” the Doctor squeaked, staring at the other Doctors in shock.

 

“Our TARDISes were all too happy to work together and bring you back to Earth. You have no idea the amount of danger you would be putting her into if you tried to keep her with you for what's coming. Never mind the mess you would make if River never learned our name and the events in the Library changed,” Evander lectured, pulling the naked Doctor away from Rose and allowing Alex to help her calm down and get dressed again.

 

“How could you possibly not want to change it? I need her! You of all people should know that!” he shouted angrily in his defence.

 

“There wasn't a day for one thousand years that I didn't wish to have her back with me. But what's coming for you? It would destroy both of them. Missy just tried to convince you that she would stop _herself_ from coming back? For all we know, it was her doing that allowed for his resurrection to begin with. So, between the Master, River, the Silence, the Church, and the Great Intelligence, I'd really rather the two of them skipped all of that and we keep things the way they are, thank you very much,” Evander ranted forcefully.

 

“If you just tell me what all of these things are, then I can keep her away from them! Wouldn't it be better? They wouldn't be searching for me when they came back and I won't have to worry about...” the Doctor pleaded.

 

“Listen to yourself!” Alex interrupted. “Have you completely lost your mind?”

 

“Yes,” Evander told them. “I told you that I had when you came back, remember? I lost Rose, I lost Donna, and I had that stupid bloody prediction following me around. Look, Doctor, you're not going to die, obviously. You are going to regenerate and yes, the Master is involved. Just believe me when I tell you that the time without Rose wasn't all horrible. I did love Amy, Rory, and River very much. They were family while Rose was gone. They won't replace her, no one ever could, but they will be just as special to you as every other companion in your many lives. Now, let's forget this paradoxical nonsense and get back to stopping Missy.”

 

The Doctor didn't say anything, but collected his clothes from the floor to make himself presentable again.

 

“Wait a minute. Doctor, you said that you thought you could block her somehow? Was that just talk to convince me, or do you really have an idea for that? I've been so terrified this whole time that she would find a past version of you and you wouldn't know how dangerous she was, but maybe we've been going at this all the wrong way,” Rose suggested.

 

Alex and Evander looked at the past Doctor curiously. They were just as wary of this version of themselves as they were the seventh Doctor, but his desire to change their history himself for the sake of keeping Rose with him now, had them even more on edge.

 

“Well,” the Doctor began, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought. “She's tied her device onto my timeline. There should be a way to cut it off or... _or_... what if, we used that link to pull her to us?”

 

“You know, that might just work,” Alex replied thoughtfully.

 

“So, we use her attachment to your timeline to pull her here. Just like she's been pulling me along with her. Then what?” Rose asked, pushing their plan along towards a workable solution.

 

“Then, at least we're more prepared than she is. We know she's coming and she's been transported without being prepared for it. We might actually be able to get the damned thing off of her wrist before she can use it again,” Evander responded.

 

“Let's think a little beyond that. If we use it and we aren't ready to catch her right away, we won't have the element of surprise anymore to use it again. We've got that lovely parts tree in our TARDIS, what do we need in order to make some kind of forcefield or something to keep her from moving again?” Rose suggested, bouncing onto the jump seat the way she always used to in a similar body while travelling in this version of the console room.

 

The action was so familiar that all three Doctors felt their hearts clench at the sight. The past Doctor because he had missed her so much. Alex and Evander because the changes in her had helped them forget how painful it was when she was gone before. Rose gasped at the feelings flowing from them. “I'm sorry...” she began.

 

“Don't, Rose. I know exactly why you wanted to look like this again. And honestly, I've missed it. You didn't need to try so hard for it, we will love every version of you, but this is the face we fell in love with. There will always be feelings attached to that, just like you felt with Old Big Ears,” Alex told her honestly as he took her hands in his and kissed them sweetly.

 

“Let's get to work on these plans. We need to figure out a parts list to know what we'll need from the Architectural Reconfiguration System. Honestly, darling, for all of your technical expertise now, you want to call it a 'parts tree?'” Evander questioned his wife with a look of incredulity.

 

Rose simply shrugged and kicked her legs back and forth happily from her familiar seat. All three Doctors shook their heads and gathered around the monitor.

 

“We've got work to do,” the past Doctor said, typing in the commands to begin planning.


	27. Setting a Trap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay, I've been getting a bit stuck on this one. I think I've got it now and we're coming in on the home stretch. I suppose I can admit at this point (if it wasn't already obvious) that the main motivation for this story was to get Rose into bed with as many Doctors as possible.

Chapter Twenty-Seven - Setting a Trap

 

 

The past Doctor and Rose had worked out a parts list for their plan and sent Alex to retrieve them from the Architectural Reconfiguration System. Evander had stayed close by, unwilling to leave Rose alone with his past self again. He wasn't convinced that the man wouldn't try to run off with her a second time. He leaned against the railing, arms crossed, as he sent mental caresses to his wife.

 

“Alright, while we're working on this, someone ought to keep an eye out for whatever Missy is up to this time,” Rose suggested when Alex returned.

 

“Yeah, you're right, love. Just because we've got our own plans, doesn't mean she won't be causing some kind of trouble,” Alex agreed and shoved the past Doctor out of the way so that he could access the computer on the console.

 

“Hey! Go use your own TARDIS!” he grumbled.

 

“Not a chance. You think we're going to let you out of our sight after that stunt you pulled?” Alex replied with a glare.

 

“Settle down, boys. I'm sure he won't be running away with me again, love. You explained how dangerous that would be,” Rose reassured him. Alex and Evander both raised an eyebrow at that and continued to glare at the past Doctor.

 

Rose and the Doctor sat on the floor as they assembled the device that would pull Missy to them by the very connection she had been using to track the Doctor through time. They would still have to construct some sort of shield to hold her once they used it, but it was a start. Alex was using the TARDIS scanners to try and find Missy.

 

“Bollocks!” Alex shouted suddenly.

 

“What is it? What's wrong?” the Doctor questioned urgently, jumping up from the floor like a grasshopper.

 

“Donna has just been reported missing,” Alex told them worriedly as he checked the report for more information.

 

“She wouldn't!” Rose exclaimed.

 

“Of course she would,” Evander responded, looking over Alex's shoulder at the monitor.

 

“How are we going to save her without triggering her memories?” the Doctor asked, pacing nervously and rubbing the back of his head.

 

“She's never seen this version of me before, there wouldn't be anything to remember if I went. We can't do much about what Missy might say, but it would be dangerous to have her seeing any of you just in case,” Evander told them.

 

“I don't like sending you to face her on your own,” Rose pouted.

 

“Darling, I've faced her hundreds of times over the centuries. We can't risk Donna's life even more just because she recognizes you or either of them. I'll be fine,” he insisted as he pulled her close and pressed their foreheads together. He kissed her softly, then nodded to the other two Doctors before rushing out the doors toward the last place Donna had been seen.

 

The three people remaining in the TARDIS worked silently for some time before the past Doctor demanded to know, “Why?”

 

“Why what?” Alex asked distractedly.

 

“Why is it so dangerous for the two of you to be with me sooner?” he clarified.

 

Alex sighed. “You know you won't be able to remember this anyway. What's the point?”

 

“Convince me why I can't change things right now. Because Evander isn't here. You two aren't me and I could fly off with the both of you. So tell me why,” he threatened.

 

“It's so twisted up, it's completely ridiculous. Very soon, you are going to meet up with the next you as well as the one from the War. Together, you are going to prevent the destruction of Gallifrey by sealing the whole planet off in its own little universe,” Alex began to explain.

 

“What?” the Doctor gasped.

 

“They try to push back into this universe. The Church finds a crack, through that crack, the Time Lords are trying to contact you so that they can return to this universe. The Church panics and in an attempt to destroy you, they blow up the TARDIS, causing the cracks to begin with. When that doesn't work, they send this group called the Silence after you in another attempt to kill you before you can get to the crack and answer the Time Lords' message,” Alex continued as he flopped down on the jump seat and kicked his legs up onto the console, crossing his ankles.

 

“And you think the Silence would try to harm the two of you?” the Doctor reasoned.

 

“Your next companions will be a couple by the names of Amy and Rory. The Silence will kidnap Amy when she becomes pregnant and replace her with a duplicate while broadcasting her thoughts into the duplicate so that even Amy doesn't know that she's been captured. They take the baby and experiment on her. They raise her to be the perfect assassin, brain washed to kill you. But she won't,” he told him.

 

The Doctor looked slightly confused and waited for Alex to keep explaining. It was Rose that took up the story then, she knew about all of this from Evander and didn't hold it against him.

 

“What do you think would happen to a girl who's spent her whole life focussed on you? It didn't take me a lifetime. Nor Martha and Sarah Jane,” Rose prompted.

 

“She fell in love with me,” the Doctor whispered in realization. “River?”

 

Rose and Alex nodded. “She nearly ripped the universe apart to prevent a fixed point forced into existence by the Silence. After that, you gave in and allowed yourself to love her. Maybe not as completely and heart wrenchingly as Rose, but enough,” Alex explained.

 

“So, we don't save Gallifrey,” the Doctor decided.

 

“What?” Rose gasped.

 

“If Gallifrey is destroyed, the way I've always thought that it was, then the cracks never happen and the Silence doesn't do all of those things. Amy and Rory can have their baby without her being stolen and tortured and her life is better too! Don't you see how much better all of our lives would be this way?” the Doctor argued.

 

“But the Library has already happened for you! It'll all unravel, Doctor,” Rose pleaded.

 

“Why would we try to save Gallifrey anyway? The War turned into hell and we want to bring that back into the universe?” he questioned.

 

“We haven't brought them back yet,” Alex told him. “The Daleks were waiting at the crack to destroy everything if you did. The crack is closed for now and we have to find another way to let them out, but you know that we won't until we're sure that it won't just start the War all over again.”

 

“The point of us telling you all of this, Doctor, isn't to change that decision. It's to show you that we can't be with you while the Silence were after you. The leaders of that group and the Church are gone now, but what if they had tried to take the two of us? Brain washed us instead of River. The Valeyard could have become more than just the ruse that it was during the trial and you could have ended up with the two of us twisted into something horrific,” Rose explained, hoping that he would give up this insane idea that could end up worse than it already was for Evander.

 

“We know that Evander has made it through all of this. If you try to change things now, the whole thing might fall apart. You know these things, Doctor, you know how much everything dangles by a thread, especially established events,” Alex continued to argue.

 

“I don't think it could get much worse,” the Doctor whispered defeatedly.

 

Rose moved to sit next to him on the floor where he fiddled absently with some of the parts they had been using for their device. She wrapped her arms around his waist in a sideways hug.

 

“I know it feels that way, love. But remember what River told you before she died in the Library. She didn't want you to rewrite her time with you. We got that vortex manipulator from her. If we didn't, we wouldn't have been able to go back for the trial. Then how much would have changed? Peri wouldn't have left when she did and you wouldn't have started travelling with Mel. So many things are connected here. Pulling on one thread could destroy everything,” she insisted.

 

The Doctor sighed frustratedly and covered his face with his hands. “I hate this,” he grumbled.

 

“I know,” Alex replied.

 

*****************************************

 

Evander arrived at the last known location of Donna. One of her friends had reported a woman having forcibly taken her at gun point and they had immediately called the police, but there was no sign of where they had gone. Evander knew that he should be able to pick up certain background radiation signals from both Donna and Missy due to their experiences travelling in time.

 

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and smiled as he remembered Rose giving him this new one after their ceremony on New Earth. He followed the faint traces down the street which told him that Missy had taken Donna on foot and hadn't used her teleporter. It likely meant that Missy wanted to be found. She couldn't very well make use of her hostage situation if she never got the Doctors there.

 

The signal indicated that they were both inside a warehouse. Evander could only find one entrance, so he entered as carefully as possible. Inside the dimly lit room, Missy seemed to be running some kind of scan on an unconscious Donna Noble. Thankfully, if she wasn't awake, there was no risk of their conversation triggering any memories. He just had to get her out of there before it all went to hell or Missy killed her.

 

Evander could feel that Rose and Alex were upset at the moment, but it was more frustration than anything else, so he knew his past self was looking for answers. He did his best to block their swirling emotions, so that they wouldn't distract him for the moment. They could easily send him a message still, if needed.

 

Deciding that there was no point in waiting and being sneaky about it, Evander entered the room and leaned casually against the wall. “What exactly are you looking for?” he asked Missy.

 

She froze and turned to face him. “From what that elderly fellow said about her before, this one was involved in the meta-crisis that created the other Doctor, yes?” she questioned as she strolled to place herself between Evander and Donna.

 

“Yes. And her mind can't handle it, so I blocked all of her memories to keep her from dying. What's your point? There's nothing to find by scanning her,” he replied.

 

“Oh, but there is, Doctor. You never were very good with the biological sciences, were you? You could have learned so much from the Rani, had you bothered to pay any attention. Her exposure to the regeneration energy has changed her quite a bit. Why do you think she didn't change along with the rest of the humans when I turned them all into me?” Missy told him with a sneer.

 

“What are you talking about?” he asked and used the opportunity to approach Donna's side and scan her with his sonic. She had been given a strong sedative. It was safe for her, but would keep her asleep for quite a while. Beyond that, he checked on the changes to her DNA that Missy was hinting at. It appeared that she was, in fact, changing quite a bit. A little bit longer and the structures of her brain might actually survive all the extra that had been poured into her mind. Well, they would need to do a little bit more in the TARDIS infirmary, but they could get the old Donna back!

 

“Do you see it? I could run experiments on her for months!” Missy cheered gleefully.

 

“I'm sure you could. But I'm not going to let that happen, Missy,” Evander growled at her as he grabbed Missy's arm and pulled her away from Donna's side. At the same time, he relayed what was happening to Rose and Alex back in the TARDIS.

 

“Always so sentimental about this silly little planet, Doctor,” Missy sneered at him. “Think of the knowledge that could be gained. That should be worth some sacrifice.”

 

“No. Lives are lost sometimes, but not by torturing them with experiments and never for something so self-serving as that,” Evander countered. Taking advantage of Donna's current state of unconsciousness, the others materialized the TARDIS directly around Evander and Donna, leaving Missy outside. Alex immediately dematerialized again to take Donna home. “Thanks for the lift,” Evander called to him.

 

“No problem,” Alex replied cheerfully. “I don't want Donna around when we face Missy. There's too much of a chance that she might wake up while we aren't paying attention.”

 

“But Alex, we can bring her memories back! Her physiology is changing. With a little help from the TARDIS, we can restore all of it and she'll be fine,” Evander told them.

 

“You're kidding!” the past Doctor exclaimed and ran to the side of the woman he loved like a sister. He scanned her with his sonic and saw what it was that Evander was talking about. “We could do it now! I wouldn't be alone!”

 

The trio's hearts sank at that. They all knew that wasn't what had happened. Donna was involved in the events of this Doctor's regeneration and things could have been drastically worse if any of that changed.

 

Rose approached the past Doctor and gave him an understanding smile. “Can I share something with you, love?” she asked softly.

 

“No! You're all going to try and tell me that I can't change anything again! It's not fair! You're all happy and can have everything, but as soon as I forget all of this, I'll just be alone and miserable again! Let me have something!” he cried, his throat closing painfully around the words.

 

“Oh, Doctor,” Rose said soothingly and wrapped him in a tight hug. He reciprocated the embrace and buried his face in her shoulder. “I want to give you something to keep. Something that will give you hope even after you forget what's happened and what is waiting for you. But you know that I can't. Do you want to see why Donna has to stay like this for now, or just trust us that her involvement in something coming up means that she cannot be with you?”

 

“I trust you, Rose,” he sighed tearfully against her neck.

 

“I'll take Donna back into the house,” Evander told them quietly as he lifted their friend carefully from the floor.

 

“I'd better come with you to explain to Sylvia and Wilf,” the Doctor called after his retreating form. He followed them out and Rose moved toward Alex for a hug. Before she could reach him however, she was transported away from them once again.

 

Alex cursed under his breath, although he had been expecting it. He gathered up the partially constructed equipment ready to bring it back to their TARDIS, fully intending to complete the work with Evander before they landed wherever Rose had ended up in Evander's timeline next. It was odd to think of the other Doctors as Evander, but now that they were past the meta-crisis split, he really was Evander before having chosen that name for himself.

 

~'Rose is gone again. Let's get all of the equipment into our TARDIS, once you're done there, so we can get back to work on this,'~ Alex told his husband.

 

He received an affirmative reply and was a bit annoyed when he learned that the other Doctor would be joining them as well. Evander passed along his feelings of understanding for his past self, knowing just how hopeless and alone he was at this point. He was terrified of the prospect of forgetting everything that was waiting for him again and was trying to put it off for as long as possible. It did mean an extra set of hands however and they had both devices finished in plenty of time for when Rose sent them a signal to remind them of where and when she was.

 


	28. What's Another Hour?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Probably only one or two chapters left now in this story. I've got another idea for this series, but I'm not sure when it'll get posted. I've got a couple of other things on the go too. HUGE thanks goes to my beta, TheDoctorMulder for her help with this. I ship Rose with every Doctor and yes, I admit, this whole story has been an excuse to let her have sex with as many as possible. We missed a few, so I might have to find other ways for them to meet again ;)

Chapter Twenty-Eight – What's Another Hour?

 

 

Rose opened her eyes to find herself lying on a glass floor with yellowish light around her. She could tell that she was in the TARDIS and as she looked around, she recognized this as the console room that she and Alex had entered after the invasion of the little black boxes thing. The Doctor was nearby and Rose felt his shock at her telepathic connection. It was only a moment before he ran into the console room.

 

“Rose!” he gasped, staring at her wide-eyed.

 

“Doctor,” she greeted with a smile.

 

“How are you... When are you... What are you doing here?” he stuttered.

 

“I'll need to unlock some memories for you, love. Then you'll know everything,” she replied as he helped her to her feet. Before she had a chance to even attempt to unlock his memories, she found herself wrapped tightly in his arms, as if she might disappear at any second.

 

“I'm going to die,” he cried softly into her shoulder. “You're here now and I'm going to die.”

 

“Oh, Doctor. No. No you won't. Trust me?” she asked as she pulled away from him enough to look into his tear-filled eyes and reach toward his temples with her hands. He nodded, refusing to let her out of the circle of his arms for an instant, and Rose placed her hands on the sides of his face.

 

The Doctor's eyes fell shut unwillingly as his mind processed all of the memories that had been locked away for two hundred years. He gasped as he opened his eyes again and clutched her impossibly tighter than before. “Oh my dearest, darling, Rose,” he whispered as he placed light kisses all over her face.

 

“Doctor,” she giggled as she tried to free herself, but he only nuzzled her neck more insistently. “You're not ignoring me about it this time,” she insisted and he instantly let go of her, as if he'd been burned.

 

“No! No, of course not. I'm so sorry about that, my love. Oh, Rose, how I've missed you,” he told her as he gazed at her longingly.

 

Rose laughed at how reminiscent his behaviour was of a shy schoolboy looking at his crush. His floppy hair, bow tie, and too short trousers emphasized the innocence of his mannerisms. She had wished that she and Alex had found him during this incarnation so that he wouldn't be alone for so long, but she also knew why things had to be the way they were.

 

“Shall I send the trigger to Evander, now? Are we landed somewhere they can meet us?” Rose asked him.

 

“Yes, of course. Not sure that Missy could have pulled you here if I were still in the vortex. I'm sure they finished making the equipment by now, so everything should be ready as soon as they get here,” he told her, fiddling nervously with some switches on the console that she knew wouldn't really do anything while they weren't in flight.

 

Rose felt disappointment and longing from him through their bond. Would another hour really matter when they would be able to drag Missy here with the devices they had constructed? She decided that the risk was worth it to give him this. He looked up at her suddenly when he felt the shift in her mood, reminding Rose of a frightened animal.

 

“Maybe, they could wait just a little bit longer,” Rose told him with a mischievous grin.

 

“Are... are... are you sure?” he asked, fidgeting with his tie and shifting from one foot to the other as she approached.

 

“I'm sure. Missy can wait a bit longer. You and I need to find someplace comfortable, yeah?” she said, pulling his bow tie loose and sliding her hand down the front of his shirt towards his trousers.

 

The Doctor jumped back in surprise, but quickly took her hand and pulled her with him up the staircase towards his bedroom. Rose giggled as she tripped along behind him and he glanced back with a beaming smile.

 

“Here we are then!” he exclaimed as he threw open the door. “Oh, thank you, Old Girl. As brilliant as I'm sure we would be at it, I don't think we have time to figure out the mechanics of making love in a hammock,” he added when he saw the huge bed that had replaced his usual sleeping surface.

 

“A hammock?” Rose laughed as they both started pulling off their clothing. “You're such a nutter.”

 

“You love it,” he told her with a smile and picked her up to throw her into the middle of the bed. Neither of them had finished undressing, but the Doctor took it upon himself to remove the rest of her clothes. He had only managed to remove his boots and jacket, but Rose found herself delightfully down to only her knickers in no time.

 

He crawled over her and began to suck and kiss her breasts while his hands struggled with his braces and trousers. Humming happily against her skin when he felt her hearts beating faster beneath him. She dug her fingers into his thick hair, different from Alex's but just as soft. He got up for just a moment to finish removing his trousers and pants, giving Rose a moment to toss her knickers across the room as well.

 

“Wondered if I'd ever get to meet this you,” she sighed when his lips latched onto her neck.

 

“Mmmm. I wish I could keep this memory. I have a feeling that there is a long wait still before you are back with me again and I already miss you so much, my darling Rose,” he mumbled against her warm flesh, his hands roaming as he mapped out every curve once again.

 

“I'm sorry, Doctor,” she whispered.

 

“Shhh, no. Let's just enjoy what time we have together,” he told her and kissed her deeply, his tongue sliding against hers.

 

Rose ran her hands along his sides and back. His bone structure was broader than Alex or Evander's, but he was just as lacking in padding. She couldn't help but compare them to the past Doctors. All of his incarnations were relatively thin and in excellent shape from his constant running. Her leather-clad Doctor was solid muscle, but still very slim. She had decided a long time ago, though that she would love the Doctor no matter what he looked like. This playfully awkward Doctor was no exception.

 

Two long fingers slid into her, intent to find the perfect places to touch, the perfect rhythm and force to make her scream his name. Rose closed her eyes and moaned as he caressed her intimately. He chuckled, proud of himself for discovering how to please her so quickly. The three of them had spent some time exploring her newest body shortly after she had regenerated, but the last time he had seen her, their coupling had been fast and ferocious. He had been so focussed on himself at the time, that he hadn't taken the time to explore her body the way she deserved. He continued to thrust his fingers in and out of her, curling them against the spot that made her shudder every time. The Doctor rubbed her clit with his thumb and Rose began to babble encouragements in Gallifreyan as she got closer to climaxing.

 

The Doctor latched onto her breast and nipped at it playfully. The added sensation had Rose tumbling over the edge instantly as she shouted his true name loudly. He growled hungrily and positioned himself over her before she could even catch her breath. She gasped as he thrust into her sensitive flesh and he held perfectly still inside her, waiting for her signal that she was ready.

 

Once Rose had caught her breath, she wrapped her legs around his narrow hips and pulled his lips to hers for a passionate kiss. The Doctor set a slow rhythm, intent on savouring every second of this encounter, even if he wouldn't remember it for several centuries. His relationship with River wasn't completely chaste (they were going to be married at some point after all), but it was nothing like this. The telepathic bond and deep, overpowering, true love that he felt for Rose, made the experience something absolutely incredible. Dismissing thoughts of anyone else, he set about caressing her mind in ways that made her toes curl.

 

Rose was used to her Doctors talking constantly as they made love to her; at least telepathically if their mouths were busy. But this version of her husband was completely silent as he clutched her tightly against him and moved within her as slowly as either of them could stand. She knew that he was trying to make this last. It would be centuries before he would see her again, so Rose wouldn't deny him the chance to do this the way he wanted. She returned his mental caresses and sent him mental images of some of their past encounters through her recent adventure along his timeline. He groaned suddenly as she reached the memories of being with his sixth incarnation, when he had tied her to the console and taken her from behind. Apparently, he wouldn't mind reliving that one, but there wouldn't be time for that now.

 

The Doctor's speed increased after that, his restraint having shattered at the thought of console room sex with Rose. He buried his face in her shoulder and breathed in her scent as he continued to race toward completion. His mental caresses turned desperate as he tried to pull her along with him She caught up easily and they both shouted incoherently as their bodies convulsed together.

 

He was shaking in her arms, she noticed, and on closer inspection, she found that he was crying. Rose stroked the Doctor's hair and back softly as he sobbed into her shoulder. They stayed that way for another half hour or so before Rose decided to send the signal to Evander that would unlock his memories of this time together. Her husbands would join them soon, so she urged this Doctor into the en suite for a quick shower before they got dressed again.

 

By the time they got to the console room, Alex and Evander were already waiting for them. They had arranged the devices by the console and connected a couple of wires to the TARDIS computer. They were discussing some details quietly as Rose and the past Doctor approached, his arm still draped over her shoulders.

 

“Are we ready, then?” Rose asked them.

 

“Well,” Alex began, rubbing the back of his neck. “We can get her here and we can hold her in place. The question is, what do we do with her afterward? I think we've established that killing her just isn't going to work and I don't think I can even bring myself to do it again.”

 

“Any of the prison planets would never hold her. She would just take over and recruit all the criminals to help her,” Evander added.

 

They all thought quietly for a few moments before the past Doctor broke the silence, asking, “How?”

 

The trio from the future looked at him confusedly. “How what?” Alex wondered, his brow furrowed.

 

“How do I keep from dying without destroying the universe by avoiding a fixed point?” the Doctor clarified.

 

“Oh, that! That's simple really. The Tesselecta,” Evander replied with a smile.

 

The Doctor looked at him in shock, his mouth open comically as his brain processed the idea. A wide grin spread over his face as he realized that the solution really was simple. As far as anyone would see, he would have been killed, but he could transport himself out to safety without anyone knowing. Then, who could say whether the version of him that they saw came from before or after his 'death?'

 

“That's... that's brilliant!” he shouted excitedly. “Why didn't I think of that?”

 

“Well, you sort of just did, in a roundabout way,” Alex responded as he considered the very odd time loop that this created.

 

“Yes, we're all geniuses. Can we get back to the current problem now? What are we going to do with Missy once we've captured her?” Evander insisted impatiently.

 

“Oh! That's not a problem. No problem at all! You gave me my solution, now I've got yours,” the Doctor told them confidently and typed a few things into the computer. The other Doctors came to look over his shoulder at the monitor and smiled.

 

“Perfect!” Alex agreed.

 

“Definitely. I guess a few good ideas can come from this floppy haired giraffe,” Evander teased and nudged his past self on the shoulder.

 

“Oi!”

 

“Alright, you three. Let's get this problem taken care of, yeah? I'd rather not find out where I might end up next if she tries to go any further,” Rose interrupted.

 

“Absolutely, my darling Rose. The next time that I know you're here, I want to you stay,” the Doctor announced and prepared to fix this problem once and for all.

 


	29. Goodbye, Hello

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter of this story, but certainly not the end of this series. Yes, this one was just about how to get Rose sleeping with as many Doctors as possible, AND I ended up finding a fix for Donna in the end. Next up in this series, I plan to do a DW/ST:TNG crossover. I was a Trekker long before I became a Whovian, so we get to do some playing around with Will and Deanna ;)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

 

 

With the flick of a switch, Missy appeared in the yellowish, gleaming console room. Evander pressed another button to activate a glowing, purple forcefield around her, disabling the use of the device on her wrist completely. She didn't say anything, just crossed her arms and looked at the four of them with raised eyebrows.

 

“Hello. Fancy meeting you here,” Alex announced with false joviality.

 

“Doctor,” she replied curtly.

 

“I want to thank you, Missy,” Rose announced suddenly.

 

“Thank her?” Evander asked incredulously.

 

“Absolutely. How else would I have had a chance to meet every version of my husband? Well, all but one, I suppose,” she replied. “And, if it weren't for you, we would never have known that we could restore Donna's memories as well. So, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my hearts.”

 

“Darling, she killed you! She cost you one of your regenerations. And honestly, we really have to have a chat about you jumping in front of guns. That's twice now that you've been shot by a blast meant for someone else,” Evander argued.

 

“Would you rather I had allowed my past self to die instead?” Rose asked.

 

“Of course not, love, but let one of us make the sacrifice next time, eh?” Alex told her.

 

“Now! Time to deal with you,” the past Doctor interrupted. “Can't have you roaming around and causing trouble, but there's no point in even trying to kill you anymore because you just keep on coming back anyway. So, for now, we'll just have to keep you contained.”

 

“There is no prison that will hold me, Doctor,” Missy sneered at him.

 

“That's why we're not bothering with a prison. So, we are taking you to Minplinta. No sentient life anywhere in its history. Not leaving you with any technology. Should prove to be a bit of a challenge for you,” Alex told her as he rocked on his heels with his hands in his pockets.

 

“You're just going to leave me on a primitive planet, in the middle of nowhere?” Missy questioned furiously.

 

“Yes. Isn't that what we just said?” Evander replied. “So, scanning for technology,” he said as he flicked a few switches. “And removing all of it.” With a brief flash of light, the device on her wrist and presumably anything in her pockets disappeared.

 

“Setting coordinates for Minplinta, ooh a couple thousand years ago, I'd say. And then, you three can go and get Donna,” the Doctor announced as he spun enthusiastically around the console, flicking controls dramatically. He completed his motions by pulling Rose into a twirling dance across the room.

 

The TARDIS landed with a thud and as the past Doctor pressed one final button to release Missy. Alex and Evander took Missy by the arms and dragged her outside. Without another word to her, they shut the doors and returned to the console so that they could all pilot the ship back to meet the future TARDIS.

 

“No more timeline hopping for me, I suppose. We really need to explore the possibilities of that scarf more,” Rose told them with a playful smirk.

 

“Let's go and get Donna first, eh?” Alex suggested, shaking his head at his wife's seemingly insatiable appetite despite spending the past week or two with all of his various incarnations.

 

“Oh alright,” she sighed and turned to the past Doctor to say goodbye. “The Tesselecta. You'll be just fine, love. And we'll find you again.”

 

He pulled Rose into his arms for a crushing hug as he breathed in the scent of her hair, his face buried in her shoulder. He didn't say anything, but he gave her a tender mental caress as she pulled away to join her husbands back on their own TARDIS.

 

They landed a fair distance away from Donna's flat. Until they had done a little extra work in the TARDIS medbay, her mind wouldn't be quite ready to handle the Time Lord consciousness in her brain. The plan therefore, was for Evander to find her, knock her out, and bring her back to the ship. All of which went very smoothly.

 

“Ok, so a quick injection of this neurostimulant, should nudge her brain cells that little bit extra that she needs,” Alex told them as he injected Donna with a bright orange liquid. “And, now I should be able to bring her back to us,” he added as he placed his fingertips against her temples.

 

Donna's eyes popped open an moment later and after a few confused glances to determine where she was, the room was filled with a deafening smack.

 

“Oi! What was that for?!” Alex shouted as he cradled his sore cheek.

 

“For being a bloody idiot and taking my memories away!” she shouted back. Rose could barely contain her giggles as she tried not to laugh at her husband's pain.

 

“I wasn't even the one who did it! I wasn't even in this universe at the time, thank you very much!” Alex protested. He pointed at Evander and continued, “He's the one that should be getting slapped!”

 

Donna jumped off of the bed and stormed across the room to where Evander was holding up his hands defensively. “I was only trying to save your live, I swear, Donna! I never wanted you to leave the TARDIS!” he insisted.

 

“Donna, how are you feeling?” Rose interjected, hoping to protect her husbands from further abuse, but also worried about their friend.

 

“Rose? Oh my god! You two are really back here? Is that how I'm OK now? Something to do with having that one here with me?” she wondered as she looked back and forth between Rose and Alex.

 

“Actually...” Evander began but was silenced by her sudden glare. Apparently, she was still too angry with that Doctor to allow him to be the one to explain.

 

“Oh, don't be too mad at him. You would have died if he hadn't done it. The energy from the meta-crisis changed your physiology enough to handle it, but only over time. We couldn't do anything until now and we only found out about all of that from Missy kidnapping you a few months ago,” Rose explained.

 

“Missy? Who's Missy?” Donna questioned.

 

“The latest incarnation of the Master,” Alex replied.

 

“But, I thought he was dead?” she wondered. “Wow, I really do remember all of that stuff from your head and it doesn't hurt anymore.”

 

“Would she have all of those suppressed memories too then, Doctor?” Rose asked curiously.

 

“Yes, and don't you dare go unlocking those particular memories, Rose! I'm sure Donna doesn't want to know any of that stuff any more than we want her remembering it,” Evander responded emphatically.

 

Donna's eyes went wide at the implication. “Umm, no thank you. You can all keep that stuff to yourself. I've got enough floating around in here already. Seems like I'm missing whatever brought you to that face though, Doctor,” she commented as she took in the new face of Evander.

 

“Well, you'd only have up to my creation really,” Alex interjected as he strolled over to them with his hands buried in his pockets.

 

“I can feel you! Your emotions, I mean,” Donna said as she felt his giddy joy at her return to their lives.

 

“Yup! Told you that before we went back to the crucible. Seems we may have a sibling bond between us from the meta-crisis,” Alex announced with a smile.

 

“That's not fair!” Evander pouted.

 

Rose giggled and gave him a mental caress and she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Now, don't be jealous. It's because of Donna that Alex was even created,” Rose chastised.

 

“Alex?” Donna asked.

 

“Well, you see, the three of us are all married now. And, well, it was a bit confusing and we thought it would be important to make a bit of a distinction between us that would stay through regenerations now that all three of us have a completely new set of lives to go through. Mind you, Rose has already used one since our last encounter with the Bad Wolf made all of this possible,” Alex rambled.

 

“Married? But that's wonderful, Doctor! Oh, I'm so happy for you. Oh my god. I almost forgot about Shaun! I'm married too. I can't just go off in the TARDIS with you now,” Donna told them sadly.

 

“Oh, don't worry, Donna. We'll leave you with our number and any time you want to come for a trip, you just give us a ring, yeah?” Rose assured her. “Shaun can come too, although, you might have a fair bit of explaining to do about all of this.”

 

“Yeah. I don't know how he's going to take this. He doesn't really believe in aliens and things. And mum's going to hate the idea of me going off with you again,” Donna told hem.

 

“I warned them a little bit when we returned you after the kidnapping, but I couldn't say much because all that stuff with the Master turning everyone into himself had to happen still. Couldn't have them mentioning anything about it before now. Anyhow, it all worked out in the end,” Alex responded.

 

“Ok. Give me that number and once I've gotten a few things worked out and explained around here, you three can come pick me up for a trip,” Donna told them. “So, if he's called Alex, what name did you pick?” she asked the other Doctor.

 

“Doctor Evander Tyler,” he replied with a smirk.

 

“Tyler? Ooh, did you both take Rose's last name? That's a bit domestic for you,” she teased.

 

“Let's get you back to your boring old human life for now and you can poke fun all you like later,” Alex told her as he guided her back through the TARDIS to the console room with an arm over her shoulders. “Call us whenever you're ready for a trip and you know that if you ever need anything, we'll come running, yeah?”

 

“Yeah. Never had a brother before. This is brilliant. Thank you, Doctor,” Donna said, her eyes glistening with unshed, happy tears.

 

“It most definitely is,” Alex agreed and gave his sister a hug.

 

Rose hugged Donna as well and when Donna turned towards Evander for the same, he tensed slightly and stepped back. “I'm really not much of a hugger this time around,” he told her.

 

“Oh, come here, Spaceman!” she demanded and pulled him into an embrace despite his protests. He patted her on the back awkwardly until she backed away from him again.

 

“How you ever put up with their nonsense, Rose, is beyond me. I'll be in touch. I'd tell you to keep out of trouble, but I know you won't,” she laughed and left the time machine with assurances that she would call soon.

 

“So, where shall we go get into trouble this time?” Evander asked as he circled the console and prepared the TARDIS for dematerialization.

 

“I think, we have an appointment with a certain scarf. I've spent too much time with past versions of you and I'd like to spend some time with the two of you and this fresh regeneration of mine. I may look similar to my first, but things still feel different to me,” Rose told them.

 

“That's to be expected. Not only are there a few minor differences like your eye and natural hair colour, but you were human when you looked like this before,” Alex said as he took her hand and entwined their fingers.

 

“A little time hanging out in the vortex then, as we discover all of the delightful ways to make you squeal, darling,” Evander announced as he pulled the lever that would leave them floating timelessly in the vortex.

 

Both of her husbands shared images of their plans for the aforementioned scarf that made Rose stumble over her own feet as she raced towards the wardrobe room.


End file.
